A Collection of Firsts
by xXxNeonSoundxXx
Summary: A hodgepodge of one-shots and short stories between Kasamatsu and the girl he fancies. Sequal to the drabble series, No, this series follows the couples life together in a series of chronological events that could only be described as their first time dealing with the baggage that comes with a relationship. [Kasamatsu x Reader]
1. First Date

Sitting alone at the top of a play set's slide, [Name] idly played games on her cellphone as she waited. Clouds had started to blow in from the East, covering the sun every so often and casting shadows on the ground below. [Name] hoped it wasn't a bad omen.

Turning her game off, [Name] glanced at the time displayed on the glowing screen before heaving a sigh of disappointment. 12:30.

"He's half an hour late…" [Name] muttered as she felt her stomach rumble.

After Kasamatsu had accepted her offer of going on a date, the two had discussed what days they would both be free. Well, more like she had discussed while he simply grunted in response, shaking in his shoes. Eventually, the two had agreed upon a lunch date that Sunday evening. Something simple that the both of them could handle which would also allow the two of them to get to know each other better. They had agreed to meet in the park where the basketball teams often met and [Name] had arrived twenty minutes early, excited to see the older male. However, as time crawled on, she was finding it difficult to stay patient.

"I can't believe he stood me up…"

Pushing off and sliding down to the bottom of the play set, [Name] resolved to just go home. As she walked, she bit the side of her cheek to stop the tears that were prickling at her eyes from flowing. Blinking back her emotions proved to be a tad difficult as she brushed past strangers walking through the park. She grumbled to herself and glared at the ground while making her way towards the park's exit. It was ridiculous of her to think she could have a happy time with the guy she liked for so long.

Finally reaching the sidewalk outside the park, she took the first few steps that would take her home. By now her tears had receded and the only emotion left was borderline apathy towards the situation. She barely noticed the dark haired male that ran passed her. If he hadn't accidently bumped shoulders with her, muttering an apology as he hurried past, she would've mistaken him for someone else.

"Kasamatsu-senpai?"

Hearing his name, the hurrying male came to a stuttering stop as he turned towards the voice that had called out to him. He was panting hard from running all the way from the station and a thin layer of sweat had started to break out on his skin. He cursed whoever had stopped him on the sidewalk, knowing full well that he was more than half an hour late for his rendezvous by now. When his eyes landed on the Seirin female however, he knew instantly that he had already screwed up.

"[Name]-san, I-I thought we were going to m-meet in the p-park," Kasamatsu said through his heavy breathing. Inwardly, he awarded himself for not stuttering as much as usual, but chalked it up to the fact he was trying hard to catch his breath.

"You're late."

Her near apathetic response shocked the third year. Lifting his shaking hand to rub at the back of his neck, he felt a shameful heat reach towards his cheeks as he avoided her gaze.

"Y-y-yeah… S-sorry…"

He gave no excuse for his tardiness, wondering to himself if it would even make a difference if he had. She was upset with him. He had screwed up majorly and she probably didn't want anything to do with him now. Silence consumed the both of them as they stood on the sidewalk, the people passing by giving them small glances. Two minutes passed with them standing there in silence before Kasamatsu decided to open his mouth and apologize again, but a low rumbling cut him off before he could get a word out.

"A-ah…" He looked down at the younger girl and watched as her cheeks reddened. Her eyes refused to meet his as she placed her hands around her stomach in a vain attempt to hush the organ. Sheepishly, she glanced at him after her stomach had settled once more. "I-I've been waiting for our lunch date all day."

Kasamatsu made a noise of understanding as he scratched at his cheek. "I-If you want, we can still g-go… To l-lunch, I mean."

The offer was left hanging in the air for a tense moment as [Name] thought over his offer. Kasamatsu could practically hear his own heart beating, reminding him of the adrenaline rush he got from being on a basketball court. Only the feeling he was getting now was more sickening, making him want to run. Part of him wished she would reject his proposal so he could go home and save himself from further embarrassment, but the majority of him knew that if that happened, he would be emotionally crushed.

"Sure," [Name] answered quietly. Suddenly, she put her hands on her hips as she looked away with a slight pout. "But you're paying since you're the one who was late for our date." Her cheeks reddened as she reminded him of their date, in turn causing his own cheeks to redden.

"A-ah, y-yeah," Kasamatsu agreed, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders.

Nodding to each other in agreement, the two started making their way to town where most of the restaurants and cafés were located. They walked side by side in silence, not looking at each other as they turned corners and crossed streets. It wasn't until the sun had been completely covered by unnoticed clouds and the first few fat drops of rain had started falling that either of them had made a sound. In a panic to get out of the rain and stay close together, Kasamatsu instinctively latched his hand onto [Name]'s smaller one, setting the pace as they ran for cover. [Name] felt a heated blush make its way towards her cheeks as she noticed their intertwined hands. She had to fight the urge to comment on how adorable she found the action.

"Oh man, my hair is going to get all frizzy," [Name] whined, tugging at a strand of hair with her unoccupied hand as the two of them made their way under the veranda of the nearest café. Though they hadn't been in the rain for long, water still dripped slowly from their hair and clothing. As they both stared out into the downpour, they wondered how each of them would be getting home safely today. "After lunch, I can call my mom to come pick us up. We'll drive you to the station."

"S-sure." Kasamatsu said, thankful that he wouldn't have to brave more of the rain in order to make it home.

[Name] smiled up at him, her eyes meeting his nervous steel blue ones as she nodded her head towards the café behind them. Catching the hint, Kasamatsu stiffly nodded as he led her inside, standing with her in line so that they're lunch date could begin. The smile on her face stayed there the entire time as she looked around the quaint café they had stumbled upon. Slowly, his own small smile made its way onto his face as he watched her.

Maybe he hadn't screwed up so bad after all.

**{EXTRA}**

"Hey, Kasamatsu-senpai?"

The older teen looked towards his younger companion as they waited in line to be seated, his eyes asking his unspoken question.

"I think it's really cute that you're still holding my hand."

Letting go of her hand, a string of broken apologies sputtered out of his lips as Kasamatsu flushed red, shaking from more than just the cold rain now. [Name] could only grin before she burst out laughing at his reaction, causing him to yell in embarrassed frustration.

No, he hadn't screwed up the date after all.


	2. First Kiss

Sprint forward, fake to the left, then bolt to the right, finishing it all off with a mad dash for the net before creating the perfect arch between the ball and its destination. In theory, [Name] thought it would have been simple to mimic the things she had seen many of her friends do on the basketball court. In practice, however, it only proved to be much more difficult.

"A-ah, sorry!" [Name] stuttered out an apology as she missed the net completely, the ball landing just in front of it before bouncing away and off the courts. Running after it, she rattled off a string of excuses. After retrieving the basketball from its nesting spot in the grass beside the outside court, she brought it back to the three point line, dribbling clumsily. "I thought I could get it that time…"

Kasamatsu mentally groaned as he watched [Name] bring the ball back to where he was trying to teach her how to shoot. They had been going at it for nearly an hour now and she had made little to no progress. Honestly, he believed she showed no signs of ever getting better at his beloved sport. He was starting to think she had no athletic talent whatsoever.

"Maybe we should try getting closer to the net," he suggested, grunting as he caught the ball after she sloppily passed it to him.

The pair walked closer to the basketball hoop, stopping once they were only a few feet away from it. Kasamatsu hoped she would at least be able to make a basket from where they stood now. Bouncing the ball a few times where he stood, he went into a small rant as he tried to explain what she should be doing and how she should do it. His arms brought that basketball up as if he were about to shoot it, showing her the motions she should try to follow. The entire time, his steel blue eyes were focused on the net, not once wavering from it.

"You didn't put enough force into that last attempt, so maybe being closer to the net will be better for you…"

As he spoke, [Name] found herself staring at him in admiration. His determination towards the sport had been what initially attracted her to him, but hearing him talk about it in person was a totally different experience for the young first year. She could practically feel his love for the game rolling off of him in waves as he tried his best to explain it to her. As he spoke about it, his face would often form a grin and he would clench his fists in excitement, the muscles in his arms tensing along with it. [Name] couldn't help but admire what she deemed to be the perfect physique of the older male, her mind traveling to places not safe to mention in public.

"Hey, Kasamatsu-senpai," [Name] murmured, interrupting his instruction.

Kasamatsu paused midsentence when [Name] interrupted him, facing her with an expression that said he was all seriousness. Why had she interrupted him? The only plausible answer he could think of was that maybe she was getting bored of learning to play. Kasamatsu hoped this wasn't the truth.

"You don't stutter when you talk to me about basketball."

Heat found its way to his cheeks and Kasamatsu found himself choking on his own saliva when he heard her words. "S-sh-shut up," he huffed after he took a moment to catch his breath. Throwing the basketball a bit harshly in her direction, he watched as she caught it with a grunt, nearly dropping it. "Have you even been paying attention to what I've been saying?!"

"Not exactly," [Name] admitted, bouncing the orange ball in place a bit before taking aim towards the basket. "But all I really need to do is aim and shoot, right? Shouldn't be that hard."

Kasamatsu couldn't bring it in himself to remind her that she had missed every basket she aimed and shot for so far. Taking a calming breath in order to sooth his still reddening cheeks, he watched as she missed yet another basket. [Name] cursed under her breath as she was forced to retrieve the ball yet again. As he watched her try over and over to make a basket, Kasamatsu couldn't help but think that what she had said was sort of true. The day before, he had been a stuttering mess when conversing with her, but as soon as [Name] asked him to teach her how to shoot a basket, a newfound determination had sparked in his soul. He found himself shaking less as they discussed a topic he was extremely familiar and comfortable with. Suddenly, he could talk to her as if she were one of his own first year teammates. Instead of being a pretty girl that could make him into a fool, she had become a student he could teach—albeit a pretty, female student, but a student nonetheless.

As he thought, Kasamatsu's eyes traveled along her body, watching her form as she positioned herself to shoot. Muscles tensed slightly, eyebrows furrowed above focused eyes, and a pink tongue poking out of the corner of her lips. Every so often [Name] would replace her tongue with teeth as she bit and chewed on her lips in concentration. Kasamatsu soon found his mind wandering to less appropriate places as he continued to stare at her and he found that pesky blush of his to be coming back with a vengeance. He cursed himself, realizing that as soon as his mind left the thought of basketball and wandered towards the thought of her, his hands started to shake slightly again. In order to avoid another awkward situation, Kasamatsu averted his eyes from her, nearly missing the familiar swish of the basket as he did so.

"Oh. Oh! Kasamatsu-senpai, I did it!" [Name] turned towards him with an excited smile, pointing towards the basket as if she could show him an instant replay. She hopped lightly in place, looking towards him for approval.

"Congratulations," Kasamatsu grunted, nodding to her. He was actually pretty impressed. Maybe she could make progress after all.

"Congratulations? What, I don't get a prize?" [Name] pouted.

"H-huh? W-What do you want?" Kasamatsu asked, baffled at what he could possibly give her as an award.

Thinking for a moment, [Name] put a finger to her lips as she hummed in thought. A few seconds passed before she made a sound that told him she had come to a decision. Taking a few steps toward the taller male, she latched her hands onto his bigger ones before looking at him. In turn, he tensed up completely, his arms and legs ever so slowly starting to vibrate in place as he became nervous. As their eyes met, Kasamatsu couldn't help but flush in embarrassment at the physical contact. It wasn't until he noticed her eyes flutter shut and her body shift to lean up towards him that he truly realized what she had wanted. He found himself stuttering, staring at her slightly puckered lips.

"Come on, Kasamatsu-senpai, no need to be shy," [Name] mumbled, eyes still closed after he still hadn't closed the distance.

Swallowing the lump in his throat and ignoring his erratic heartbeat, Kasamatsu leaned down towards her, refusing to close his eyes until he was sure he wouldn't miss completely. A few tense milliseconds later and his lips finally landed upon hers. He allowed his own eyes to shut as he felt the blush consume his entire face. Seconds later, they both retreated from the simple first kiss, red adorning both their faces.

They hoped it would be the first of many.

**{EXTRA}**

"I-I-I should w-walk you home n-now," Kasamatsu stuttered as he escaped from [Name]'s hold, reverting back to his awkward and nervous habit.

"Wait, I want to try for one more basket!" [Name] ran to retrieve the basketball before returning to her previous spot and shooting. Secretly, she hoped another basket would earn her another kiss, but when neither the sound of the net nor the sound of a ball bouncing reached their ears after a moment, [Name] found herself looking towards the hoop. "O-oh… I think it's stuck up there."

"Hey! That's my favorite basketball!"


	3. First Family Dinner

[Name] was sitting in a chair at the station, watching as all sorts of people passed her by and fidgeting with the hem of her dress. Subconsciously, she worried about it being too short whenever the wind would cause it to flutter an inch or two up her thigh and she would tug at the ends, trying desperately to keep it down. Her mother had insisted on her wearing tights underneath, but [Name] had quickly refused due to the heat of the weather. Now she was regretting that decision.

Taking her phone out of the purse she had resting on her hip, she checked the time before opening up a game app. She had arrived at the station ten minutes earlier than she should have, wanting to be on time for the special occasion. She could only hope that Kasamatsu wanted to do the same.

* * *

_They had been sitting in the café where they had their first date, the current one being their third lunch date. [Name] was rambling on about her friends at school and the activities they were doing. Every so often, Kasamatsu would grunt or reply to a comment he found interesting, but for the most part he stayed silent, content with just listening as he was left to his own thoughts. His cheeks had a very light tinge of red to them and it was obvious that his mind was preoccupied with other things, but [Name] merely brushed it off as his natural nervous tendencies._

_"H-hey," he interrupted, steel blue eyes meeting hers for a brief second before glancing away. Instead of idly shaking, his hands played with the napkin on the table in front of him, picking at it and tearing off pieces. "My parents were wondering… U-uh, dinner. W-would you like to come over for d-dinner?"_

_[Name] felt heat rise to her face and her eyes widened at the offer, staring at him with slight shock. She opened her mouth, blurting out a few incoherent words before she could get out a comprehensible sentence._

_"D-dinner? I mean, isn't it a bit early? W-we've only been dating for a week a-and, I mean, w-we're not even official…" She trailed off, noticing how Kasamatsu clenched his teeth at her words, like she was force feeding him something bitter. Looking down towards her empty plate, the heat on her cheeks intensified. "But… If you don't mind, I guess we could. Have dinner, I mean. Y-yeah, dinner with your family sounds nice."_

_She heard what she thought was a sigh of relief from her companion at the table and, braving a glance, she found that he was staring at her with determined eyes and a redder face._

_"G-good. It'll be next week Saturday then."_

* * *

Cursing as she lost yet another life in her game, [Name] pressed the button to restart from the checkpoint, hoping she could avoid her character's inevitable doom.

"H-hey, [Name]-san."

[Name] looked up from her phone, mentally cursing as she heard the sound of her character's death play through the small speaker. Walking towards her was Kasamatsu, his hand up in a small greeting as he quickly closed the distance between them. [Name] smiled and walked towards him after putting her phone away to close the distance faster, lacing her hand with his once they were close enough. In turn, this caused Kasamatsu to sputter at her open display of affection, trying desperately to shake her off at first before settling into the feeling of her smaller hand in his.

"W-we should get going," Kasamatsu grunted as he led her in the direction of his house.

"Okay," [Name] agreed, following his pace as they walked together.

The walk to his house was a silent one, neither of them saying anything for the most part of it. Every so often, Kasamatsu would cast a glance down to [Name], memorizing the facial features she made as she thought about the dinner to come. Her brows were furrowed slightly and her eyes shined with a certain worry. Her lips, shinier than usual—was she wearing makeup?—were placed in a slight pout and Kasamatsu couldn't help but think she looked cute in that moment. He cursed himself for allowing his blush to reappear at the thought, his eyes quickly darting away so he could calm himself down. He didn't want to become a trembling mess this early into the evening.

"I'm nervous."

The sudden confession caused both Kasamatsu and [Name] to stop in their tracks on the sidewalk. Letting go of his hand and moving off to the side, [Name] leaned against a wall nearby as she closed her eyes to take calming breaths. It was at that moment Kasamatsu could notice the slight shaking in her hands and the subtle waver in her voice. It was strange watching her suffer through the nervous habits he would often be victim to. He felt bad for thinking that he would be the only nervous one at this dinner. Instinctively, his hand reached out to her own and he squeezed it once, hoping to calm her down.

"What about?" He asked, forcing himself not to stutter as he tried to be a pillar of support.

"A lot of things," she admitted, opening her eyes to stare at the sidewalk, "Do I look okay? Am I dressed okay? Will they like me? Will they hate me? I really want tonight to go well. I really want it to work, for us to work. I… I really like you…"

The last part of her confession, though spoken quietly, resounded in Kasamatsu's mind. He felt the need to comfort her in her time of worry, but his inexperience with these types of situations caused him to pull a blank on what to do. After a silent moment, Kasamatsu found himself taking her face into his shaking hands. Mustering up as much courage as humanely possible, he looked her straight in the eyes before quickly bending down to place a chaste kiss on her lips. It was clumsy and their teeth knocked together slightly from the sudden impact, but when he pulled away he found that it had the effect he was hoping for. Her eyes, which had been so worried before, held no trace of that emotion as she looked at him in slight shock and amazement, her cheeks flushing red at the surprise.

"They'll like you," he said quietly as he dropped his hands from her face, going to hold hers once more. "B-because I… like you."

[Name] found herself smiling as the pesky heat in her cheeks persisted on staying. After another silent moment, the two resumed walking towards Kasamatsu's household, hands intertwined.

"What about my dress?" She asked after a beat, tugging at it with her free hand. "Is it decent for dinner?"

"Tch," Kasamatsu scoffed, avoiding looking at her, "It's too damn short. Wear something longer next time if you want to be decent."

Truthfully, he just wanted to stop the ever increasing blush he got every time the wind lifted her dress.

**{EXTRA}**

After a successful dinner with his family, [Name] waved a goodbye to them as Kasamatsu walked her back to the station. The walk back was livelier than their previous venture as [Name] commented on his family and the conversations that had happened at dinner. Kasamatsu would reply every so often, voicing his own opinion. Once they had arrived at the station, all conversations about dinner had been exhausted and a comfortable silence consumed the air around them.

"Hey…" Kasamatsu started after a minute, looking away from [Name]. "I-I was wondering… D-do you want to make it o-official?"

"Huh? What do you mean Kasamatsu-senpai?"

Collecting his resolve, Kasamatsu closed his eyes to avoid an emotional meltdown. "[Name]-san, please be my girlfriend!"

His only response was a happy giggle and a sweet kiss to the lips.


	4. First Photographs

Kasamatsu could barely keep his eyes focused on the large movie screen displayed before him, most of his focus going towards fighting the heated blush threatening to devour his face. Though his upper body was as stiff as stone, his lower body was shaking almost violently and he was quickly becoming a vibrating mess in his seat. A shrill screech from the overhead speakers resonated within the theater and Kasamatsu jumped in his chair. Though, it wasn't from the movie being played. No, he had jumped because, at that exact moment, [Name] had decided to quickly grip at his arm, pulling it towards her body in her own shaking fear. Glancing over at her, Kasamatsu could see her wide, worried eyes transfixed on the movie screen as if she were trapped in a spell. Her lips were pressed in a thin line and her knuckles had started to turn white from how hard she was gripping him. He could feel the edges of her nails prodding at his skin through the sleeves of his team jacket.

"Please don't go in there," she weakly whispered to herself, urging the movie's main actress to stay away.

Turning his attention back to the movie screen, Kasamatsu tried hard to remember why he had suggested a movie date in the first place. He had overheard a few of his classmates talking about the newest horror film out in theaters and couldn't help but eavesdrop when they mentioned taking their own girlfriends to the movie. Upon hearing how their girls had been clinging to them the entire time, Kasamatsu decided that he would give it a try. It's not like he had any better ideas anyway. As soon as basketball practice had ended that day, he promptly picked her up from her home and walked with her to the theaters.

"Tch."

Kasamatsu gave off the small noise upon feeling [Name] lace her fingers with his own in a desperate attempt to calm herself. The plan had worked splendidly, yielding the exact results Kasamatsu had hoped for: his girlfriend was definitely a quaking mess in need of his comfort. However, the poor Kaijou captain had neglected to add his own nervous habit into the mix when thinking about the plan. Now that it was actually in action, Kasamatsu could do nothing but freeze whenever her small hands brushed up against him. He had also become a quaking mess, but it wasn't due to the blood and gore that were artistically displayed on the screen.

"K-Kasamatsu-kun," [Name] whispered, turning in her seat so she could face him better.

Looking down at her from the corner of his vision, Kasamatsu noticed how her eyes danced back and forth between his face and the screen. He turned his upper body as well, giving her his full attention. Shakily, [Name] opened her mouth to speak, but just as she was about to talk the sound of a motor revving up and an evil cackle boomed throughout the theater. [Name] screamed instead, causing a chain reaction as multiple other people in the audience screamed as well. Feeling an embarrassed flush rise to her cheeks, [Name] hid her face in Kasamatsu's shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut. Kasamatsu stiffened at the contact. He hoped she wouldn't be able to hear his heart practically beating through his ribcage.

He felt bad for dragging [Name] to this type of movie, but he hadn't known she would react this way. Feeling a blush worm its way onto his face, he leaned a bit closer to her. "W-We can leave n-now… If you want," he whispered, his larger hand squeezing hers.

Receiving a quick nod from the first year, Kasamatsu gathered up the drinks they had purchased for the movie before standing from his seat. Luckily the pair had decided to sit in the back of the theater, upon [Name]'s request, closer to the doors. She had probably seen this sort of outcome being the result of their movie date and didn't want to bother the other moviegoers when they would inevitably leave during the middle of the show.

"Let's go," Kasamatsu grunted as he felt [Name] curl her arm around his.

Making their way out of the dark room, Kasamatsu dumped their drinks into a rubbish bin near the doorway before leading [Name] to the main lobby of the theaters. The lobby was much more brightly illuminated than the room they had just been in and Kasamatsu found himself squinting a bit as they walked through it. There were still crowds of people in the movie theater lobby, some of them hanging around and chatting about movies they had just finished, others standing in line as they waited to order their snacks, and even more standing idly around as they waited for their own movie to start. Kasamatsu grimaced as he tried to make his way through the crowd. Eventually, the mass of people had become so thick that [Name] had to relinquish her hold on his arm and settle for latching her hand to his, making it easier for them to weave through.

"A-Ah, Kasamatsu-kun, wait!"

[Name] called out after her boyfriend when, at one point in their journey towards the front door, their hands had separated to allow passing children run by. Before she knew it, a small wave of people had taken that break as their cue to walk in front of the girl, causing her to lose sight of Kasamatsu altogether. Feeling a slight panic, [Name] tried to walk around the crowd and see if she could find the older teen, but she only ended up getting more lost within the sea of people. After a minute, she decided to walk in a straight line. Eventually she would hit a wall and she could work her way towards the exit where the two would hopefully meet up.

"Whoa, so old school," she breathed out once she had made her way passed the crowd and to the opposite wall.

Standing before her was an old photo booth; the kind that only took black and white pictures and would print them out four at a time. She found herself fascinated by the slightly old piece of technology, its weathered corners and vintage style intriguing her. The curtain that separated the inside of the booth from the outside theater surrounding it was a dingy red color, stained from years of use and torn at the edges. Reaching a hand out, she felt the rough fabric between her fingers and tugged on it slightly. It felt loose and [Name] was sure she could tear the entire thing off with one strong tug.

"There you are." A sudden hand clapped down on her shoulder and [Name] had to fight the urge to scream. Looking up at her sudden companion, she sighed mentally in relief when she saw Kasamatsu standing before her with a worried expression etched in his face. He jerked his head in the opposite direction, eyes glancing between hers and the exit. "Come on, the door's this way."

"Wait, can we do this first?"

"E-Eh?" Kasamatsu looked at the old photo booth that stood tall behind [Name]. It had definitely seen some better days and looked like it was about ready to shut down any minute. "R-Really? D-Do we have to?"

"Please? Oh, please, please, please," [Name] begged, clasping her hands together in front of her face as a small grin broke out onto her features. "Besides, you owe me for taking me to such a scary movie. I nearly died in that theater. A few pictures isn't going to hurt."

Kasamatsu frowned slightly, but nodded nonetheless, earning himself an excited squeal as [Name] dragged him into the booth after her. It was quite small in there and the third year felt the heat of a blush creep onto his face as he was forced to stand extra close to the girl in order to get within the cameras sights. After inserting money into the machine, [Name] turned towards the taller male and poked him in the cheek.

"Make sure you smile, okay?"

Kasamatsu nodded and the pair turned forward to face the camera. [Name] gave her best grin, her smile going wide and reaching up to her eyes as she held onto Kasamatsu's arm. She leaned closer to him and he bent down a bit to get closer to her, his own barely present smile on his face. His brows, however, were furrowed in slight confusion and annoyance. He hoped this ordeal would end quickly.

The machine clicked and a bright flash blinded the couple for a second, leaving black and white spots in their vision. It started counting down again and [Name] made quick work of getting into another pose. Kasamatsu mentally sighed, staying in the same position as before. Another click and another flash. They were halfway done.

Suddenly, Kasamatsu could feel the front of his basketball jacket being forcefully tugged downward. He followed suit, not wanting his jacket to be damaged and barely registering another flash of the camera as he stared at the mischievous grin plastered on [Name]'s face.

"Last picture," she said, tugging the tall male even closer.

Kasamatsu's eyes widened and his face and ears turned red as [Name] pulled him into a kiss, her own eyes shut in merriment. As their lips locked, Kasamatsu heard the shutter of a camera and saw the bright light of the flash go off in the corner of his eye. The screen started to play a short animation as it printed their pictures.

"You could at least kiss me back," [Name] mumbled against his lips before pulling away with a cheeky grin. She poked his cheek once again before stooping low to pick up the photos the machine had just deposited through a slot. There were two sets, one for her and one for him. "Oh well, maybe next time."

Giving him his set of photos and pushing the still frozen in shock male out of the booth, [Name] latched her hand into his and led him towards the exit of the theaters. By now the crowd had thinned out significantly and they both had an easier time walking passed the strangers. As they walked and Kasamatsu recovered from his embarrassed daze, he couldn't help but notice that [Name] had begun fiddling with her cell phone.

"W-What are you doing?" He asked as he watched her remove the clear case from around her phone.

"I want to put the photographs in my phone case," she answered, placing the photos face down in the case before snapping it back into place against her phone. She showed it to him, grinning. "Now I can see you even whenever I want to."

Kasamatsu sputtered as he looked at the embarrassing photos displayed proudly in her phone. He started to complain, telling her how she could've chosen better pictures, but she only responded by childishly sticking her tongue out. Red in the face, he declared that he would steal her phone later and destroy the evidence before anyone else could see it.

They both knew he wouldn't dare.

**{EXTRA}**

"Eh?! Hey, [Name], is this you and bushy brows?!"

Said girl paused her conversation with Kawahara midsentence as she looked over to Kagami. The obnoxiously loud redhead had her cellphone in his hands, pointing accusingly at the photos she had displayed in her case.

"What? No way, [Name]-chan and Knee-Socks-senpai?" Koganei asked as he too went to go look at the photographs on her phone. "Wow, I didn't know you'd display something so risqué on your phone, [Name]-chan."

"H-Hey, wait," [Name] stuttered, blushing at the odd nicknames her friends were giving her boyfriend. She was starting to regret visiting Seirin's basketball practice as the rest of boys and Riko cooed and wolf whistled at the pictures. Her plan of embarrassing Kasamatsu with the pictures had backfired and now she was the one slowly regretting ever stepping foot in that booth. [Name] could only hang her head and cover her cheeks in embarrassment at the treatment she now received.

Somewhere in Kaijou, Kasamatsu was sneezing.


	5. First Argument

"If it's bothering you so much, you should go and apologize, Senpai."

Kasamatsu chewed his lunch slowly, staring at the cellphone he had set in his lap as he allowed his blonde teammate to talk. He mentally willed it to vibrate, signaling him for a new incoming message, but he knew it would be a long shot before that would actually happen. He had just gotten finished explaining to Kise what had happened between himself and [Name] the day prior, though he hadn't mentioned her name, and he had started to feel a bit better after getting it off his chest. He wasn't completely healed from the ordeal however, seeing as he hadn't heard from the Seirin female ever since the argument occurred.

* * *

_He didn't know how it had ended up this way. Kasamatsu and [Name] were sitting at the table in his kitchen, the both of them slowly getting frustrated as time went on. She had a pencil in her hand, furiously scratching out answers on a piece of paper set before her. Every so often she would flip the pencil around so she could erase a mistake. Kasamatsu was sitting next to her, his knees bouncing up and down in a fidgeting motion as he watched her work. After a while, she sighed heavily, setting her pencil down beside the paper._

_"W-Wait, Kasamatsu-kun, I don't really understand."_

_Kasamatsu groaned in annoyance for the hundredth time that day, taking the worksheet from the girl's hands with his own shaking ones before working through the problem himself. As he worked on the word problem, he explained his steps to the first year, hoping that she would finally understand. Glancing over in her direction a few times, he noticed that she was watching his hands intently, earnestly trying to comprehend the steps he was taking to get his answer._

_"Oh, I see," she said after a moment once he had finished the math problem. "So you use that equation in order to solve this type of problem. It seems so much simpler now that you've explained it."_

_Taking the paper back from him, she moved on to the next question. Her fingers drummed on his kitchen table as she read through the next word problem. Every so often she would pick up her pencil and circle key words and phrases she thought applied to the math equation. Once she had finished reading the word problem, she paused and thought about it for a while. After a minute, she picked up her pencil and balanced it on her upper lip, her thoughts not quite focused on the problems before her. When Kasamatsu noticed she had yet again become distracted, he grunted, effectively gaining her attention._

_"Oh, the math problem," she said through half lidded eyes as she skimmed through it once more. After reading it for a second time, she looked at him seriously. "I don't get this one either."_

_Kasamatsu felt a frustrated growl reverberate in the back of his throat as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Damn it, this isn't that hard, [Name]-chan."_

_His sudden brashness caused [Name] to bristle and she instantly felt defensive. Her pencil fell from her upper lip as she sat up straight to face Kasamatsu. It rolled away from her easily, slipping off the table and noisily landing onto the tiled floor below. Both teens paid it no mind as they fixed each other with a glare._

_"It is for me," [Name] retorted, crossing her arms in front of her chest with a huff. "Of course you think this stuff is easy. You've already taken it and passed. I'm two years younger than you, Kasamatsu-kun. I haven't even seen half the things this worksheet is talking about yet."_

_Kasamatsu rolled his eyes a bit, pointing at the paper. For a moment, his shakiness was forgotten as his mind was overcome with frustrated anger. "All the equations you need are on the front of the sheet of paper. All you have to do is copy them down and fill in the blanks. It's seriously not that hard."_

_"But I don't understand the equations," [Name] whined, pushing the paper away from her. "We haven't learned any of this stuff yet!"_

_"I've been explaining it to you for the last half hour. If you would just pay attention while I'm showing you how to do it, you would know by now!"_

_"I do pay attention while you explain. I've been paying attention this entire time! Your explanations are just really crappy!"_

_"They're not crappy," Kasamatsu replied angrily._

_This argument was going nowhere and he was started to lose his patience. As he closed his eyes to fight off harsh words, Kasamatsu continued to listen as [Name] yelled and complained. Between his emotions fluctuating from extremely angry to slightly frustrated and [Name] yelling at him about his teaching style, Kasamatsu was starting to feel a small headache forming. It reminded him of a time where Kise had been particularly annoying at school and Kasamatsu could feel his fist clench as he compared that situation to the one currently at hand. Before he knew it, his mouth had opened and a familiar insult had slipped passed his lips._

_"It's not my fault you're just too stupid to understand this stuff!"_

_Realizing what he had said, Kasamatsu looked towards [Name] with wide eyes. He hadn't meant to insult her in such a way and he wanted to apologize, but the moment he opened his mouth to do so only incomprehensible syllables sputtered forth from his vocal cords. He noticed how she had gone silent the moment his insult left his mouth and she was staring at the piece of paper before her on the table. He couldn't see her eyes from the angle she was facing, but he judged that they were squinted in anger due to the present frown that marred her face. Her hands, which had been gripping onto the edge of the table, tightened their hold and he could see her knuckles turn white. Suddenly she stood from her seat, stooping low to pick up her pencil before packing it away into her schoolbag along with the math worksheet._

_"I should go home." She spoke with a voice that sounded close to apathy and Kasamatsu instantly knew he had once again screwed up big time._

_He watched as she grabbed the rest of her personal belongings before heading towards the exit. Kasamatsu could only flinch as he heard his front door slam shut. After she had left, Kasamatsu immediately tried contacting her to apologize, but he was only ever answered with silence. He assumed she had ignored her phone in annoyance. By the next morning, he had left five missed calls and ten unanswered text messages._

_She answered none of them._

* * *

"Senpai, are you listening?" Kise waved a hand in front of the Kaijou third year's face, effectively getting him to look up with a scowl. "Just listen to what I have to say, okay? Trust me."

Kasamatsu sighed, not really wanting to go through with Kise's plan, but seeing as how it had sort of worked the last time, he thought it couldn't hurt to try again. Slumping his shoulders, Kasamatsu nodded to the blonde as a signal that he would listen to whatever crazy scheme the model could cook up this time. As long as it wasn't over the top ridiculous, of course.

* * *

[Name] sighed as she watched the final minutes tick by on the classroom's clock. She felt bad for not responding to any of Kasamatsu's messages. Once she had left his house, she had angrily sent her mother a text message that she would be returning home promptly, however, once that single message was sent her phone had died. She had been left to survive the rest of her journey home without any communication. When she had finally recharged her phone it was hours later and she was afraid he would be angry that she hadn't responded right away.

Upon returning home, [Name] had once again tried to study the math worksheet. Being on her own and thinking about the problems in her own way, she had slowly started to come to the conclusion that Kasamatsu hadn't been that bad of a teacher and some of his tips had actually made sense. She felt horrible for mouthing off to him before storming away, but she didn't know how to apologize to the male. Lost in her thoughts, [Name] barely registered the ringing of the final school bell.

"Trouble in paradise?"

[Name] rolled her eyes as she threw a wadded up piece of paper at Kawahara. He only laughed, swatting it away before it could hit him in the face.

"We had an argument yesterday," [Name] admitted, her eyes returning to the notebook that lay open and unused on her desk. "I asked him to tutor me in math and we started yelling at each other when I couldn't understand what he was teaching me. It's my fault, really, but I don't know how to apologize."

Kawahara rolled his eyes as he watched [Name] start to pack up the rest of her things. Once she was finished, they both walked out of the classroom together, waving a farewell to their teacher as they did so.

"Just go up to him and say sorry. Simple as that."

"I don't know if it's that easy…"

The pair stopped just outside the school building where they would have to part ways, Kawahara towards basketball practice and [Name] towards the school gates.

"He's a guy," Kawahara explained as he placed a reassuring hand on [Name]'s shoulder. "We don't need much as an apology."

[Name] nodded, smiling at his encouraging words before separating from him. As she walked, she could hear Kawahara yell something about lingerie doing the trick if words couldn't and she chose to ignore him, a heated blush making its way onto her face. Taking her solo trek towards the school gate, she barely noticed the pair of steel gray eyes searching for her at the entrance of her school. She had to stop herself from yelping in surprise when a hand suddenly reached out and latched onto her upper arm, stopping her from escaping.

"[Name]-chan."

[Name] stared up at the taller male in shock, confused as to why he had showed up in front of her school all of a sudden.

"Kasamatsu-kun? How did you get here so early?"

Kasamatsu looked away from her for a moment, his hand releasing her as he went to cover the blush forming on his cheeks. She noticed how his hand seemed to be shaking a little less today and she wondered if he was finally starting to get used to her presence.

"I-I left early today…" He stammered out. Suddenly his other hand was in her line of sight, his fist tightly clenched around a red rose with its thorns clipped. "H-Here." He shoved the flower into her hands and she couldn't help but be reminded of the time he had asked her to be his girlfriend the first time.

"W-What's this for?" [Name] stuttered in confusion as she absentmindedly brought the flower to her nose. She inhaled its sweet scent, barely aware of the other students pointing and gossiping as they left the school.

"A-An a-apology," Kasamatsu mumbled, scratching at his cheek a bit as he glanced at her to gauge her reaction. "I'm s-sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't h-have said those things."

[Name] frowned a bit, shaking her head and for a moment Kasamatsu panicked as he thought he wasn't forgiven. When she placed a hand over his, lacing her fingers with his own, he felt his body tense. The words she spoke almost didn't register in his mind since he was distracted by her touch, but he forced himself to pay attention.

"I should be the sorry one. I overreacted and said some pretty mean things too." The two stood in silence for a moment as they each considered the other's apology. Squeezing Kasamatsu's hand in her own, [Name] gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll forgive you if you forgive me."

Kasamatsu nodded at the idea, his own small smile playing on his lips. As he did so, [Name] leaned up and pecked him lightly on the lips, leaving him a red, stuttering mess once more.

All had been forgiven.

**{EXTRA}**

As they walked down the sidewalk towards the station, hands intertwined with each other's, [Name] explained to him how her day had went.

"Oh, by the way," she chimed after a while. "I didn't tell you, but the math test you helped me study for was actually today. We got them back early too, so I already know my grade."

"Oh?" Kasamatsu was honestly curious, lifting a single brow as he looked down at the girl.

"I got a C-," she said, smiling sheepishly. "You really aren't a good teacher, Kasamatsu-kun."

"O-oi, shut up! I-Idiot…"

[Name] grinned. She would have to get used to his flustered insults.


	6. First Sick Day

Walking down the sidewalk in a semi-rush, Kasamatsu gave out clipped apologies whenever he bumped into a stranger. His eyes were half closed as he walked, gaze focused mainly on the ground so he could watch his steps carefully. Every other minute or so, he would yawn quite loudly into his fist, not caring who happened to see him do so. His muscles ached from just having practice and his mind had started to shut down by the time the end of school came. To say he was tired would be the biggest understatement of the year.

Taking his cellphone out of his uniform pocket, he glanced at the time and was instantly reminded why he had been so tired throughout the day. He had been texting his girlfriend during the night, encouraging her to stay awake as she studied for another upcoming math test. This time around she had told him she would study on her own, seeing as the last time he had helped her hadn't turned out so well.

_Laying in his bed, Kasamatsu glanced at the clock on his bedside table. 11:30 p.m. He felt another vibration from the phone he had sitting idly on his chest and he instantly picked it up to read the new text._

_'I'm having so much trouble with this subject. Why does math exist?'_

_Kasamatsu rolled his eyes at the stupid question, quickly typing back a response. Inwardly, he mocked himself for finding it so easy to express his words through text, yet the moment [Name] was physically standing in front of him he became a quivering fool._

_The night had continued on like that for a while with [Name] complaining about things she hated and Kasamatsu answering with understanding or reprimanding responses. Before the two knew it, time had flown by. By the time he had checked his clock again, it was already 2:00 in the morning and Kasamatsu had to call it a night. Wishing her a good night, he placed his phone on the bedside table in hopes of getting enough sleep for school the next day._

Obviously he hadn't. Neither had [Name] apparently, for the very next morning she had texted him, saying she had stayed up later to study some more, only to fall ill the next morning. He remembered groaning when he read that text, knowing full well that she had become ill due to a combination of lack of sleep and the events of earlier that week. He cursed her for always being too forgetful to grab an umbrella before leaving her home.

_"Hello, Kasamatsu-kun," [Name] greeted happily after Kasamatsu had opened the door to his home. Her hair and clothes were dripping from the rain that was pouring outside. _

_Quickly, Kasamatsu yanked her into the house. "I-Idiot, y-your soaked!"_

_"Ah, that's okay! I'll just borrow a towel."_

He remembered her being a shivering mess that day and he swore to himself if it ever happened again, he would handle it better.

Making his way down the sidewalk, he turned onto a familiar street that he knew would lead him to her house. As soon as practice had ended, he decided he would pay her a visit. Kise had begged to come along, wanting to go on an adventure with his senior, but Kasamatsu had quickly refused his offer, telling the blonde model to buzz off before he could hit him. Kise had whined, saying something about Kasamatsu always mysteriously going across town by himself for still unknown reasons, but complied anyway. Kasamatsu was glad the blonde hadn't decided to persist on coming along. He barely wanted to be a trembling mess in front of his girlfriend, let alone his teammate.

Finally making it to her front door, Kasamatsu noticed that her parents' cars were not in the driveway. He bit his lip, wondering if they would be the only two in the house as he rang the doorbell. From inside, he could hear the sound of a television decreasing in volume and a soft cough as a person acknowledged their visitor. Before too long, the door swung open to reveal a squinting [Name], clad in her pajama pants and a tight camisole.

"Kasamatsu-kun? What are you doing here?" She asked as she let the Kaijou captain into her home. He removed his shoes at the door, leaving his school bag near it as well as she led him into the living room.

"I, uh, I was w-worried about you," Kasamatsu spoke softly, not knowing whether she was sensitive to sound or not. He tried his best to avert his eyes from her figure, not quite used to seeing her in such casual clothing. He sat on the couch next to her as she wrapped a blanket around herself, her attention no longer on the television show she had been watching.

"That's so sweet," she said between coughs, covering her mouth and turning completely away. "You shouldn't have come though. I don't want to get you sick."

Kasamatsu scoffed, feeling bad whenever she gave a hoarse response or turned her head to cough in the other direction. "I have a better immune system than you," he murmured after a while.

"But you can still get sick," she responded quickly, still giving him a sweet, tired smile. "It wouldn't be very good for Kaijou's point guard and captain to skip practice due to an illness. By the way, how was practice today? Sorry I missed it. I was really looking forward to seeing all of your team for the first time."

Kasamatsu shook his head and chose to ignore her question, not wanting to talk about basketball for the moment as she continued to cough into her hands. When she sneezed a few times, he leaned towards the small table in the living room and grabbed a tissue from the box resting there, handing it to her with slightly shaking hands. She thanked him before wiping at her nose, an embarrassed flush coloring her cheeks and adding to the warmth her fever brought. She didn't mind that Kasamatsu had come by for a visit. She only wished that she didn't look like a dying mess when he did.

"Where's your medicine?" Kasamatsu's question caught [Name]'s attention and she pointed him in the direction of her bathroom, telling him the cough syrup would be behind the mirror in the cabinet. He immediately got up to find it, returning a few minutes later with a couple of bottles. [Name] recognized some of them as every day cold relievers. Sitting back down, Kasamatsu took one of the bottles and started to measure out the right amount of medicine, willing his shaky hands to be still for once. "Here, you should take this."

Watching in disgust as the purple, grape flavored liquid poured into the small measuring cup, [Name] found herself gagging at the thought of having to ingest it. When Kasamatsu had tried handing it to her, she pushed his hand away, refusing the awful syrup. Kasamatsu sighed, not wanting this to turn into another struggle.

"Just take the damned medicine already, idiot," he snapped at her as she refused him for the umpteenth time. "Or do you really not want to get better anytime soon?!"

"The longer I'm sick, the longer I can avoid my next math test," she huffed, turning her body away from him.

So that was her game.

"The longer you're sick, the longer you can't see your friends."

"They can always visit. You're visiting me."

"I can't visit all the time."

"I can text you."

"What if I don't answer?"

"I'll wait."

Kasamatsu sighed, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to win this battle with just a normal response. Feeling the heat rise to his cheeks, he set the cup of medicine down on the small table before shifting over to sit just behind [Name] on the couch. His trembling arms snaked their way around her torso and he placed his chin on her shoulder. He couldn't tell if the heat he was feeling was from his own skin or hers.

"T-The longer you're sick, the longer we h-have to wait before going on d-d-dates again…"

Kasamatsu was met with silence for the longest while and he started to get irritated, wondering if he had said such an embarrassing thing for nothing. Just has he opened his mouth to reprimand her again, [Name]'s hand reached for the medicine cup before bringing it to her hesitant lips. She swallowed the medicine in one gulp and Kasamatsu could feel her shudder as it slid down her throat. He smirked to himself in triumph, having won the battle this time.

"Better be one hell of a date," [Name] muttered as she turned in Kasamatsu's embrace to face him with a small smile.

Kasamatsu nodded in response, silently giving the girl his word that it would be a good one. As the rest of the evening went on, Kasamatsu and [Name] lounged around on her living room's couch, watching movies that happened to be playing on the television. Eventually, Kasamatsu found his eyelids becoming heavier, the stress of the day finally reaching him as he allowed them to slip shut. [Name], who had finally stopped coughing so harshly thanks to the medicine, had also slipped into some well-deserved rest.

The two napped peacefully, both secretly excited for the next time they could go out together.

**{EXTRA}**

The very next day, Kasamatsu had felt better than ever. His day went off without a hitch and he expected the trend to continue. His lucky break, however, had ended as soon as he noticed the new text he had received during practice. Picking up his phone after it vibrated once, Kasamatsu flipped it open quickly. [Name] had texted him.

'Look at this cute photo my mom took of us when she found us on the couch yesterday!' Below the words was a photograph of the couple, sleeping peacefully on the couch. [Name]'s head placed gently on Kasamatsu's shoulder and his own head resting against her. Both had content looks on their faces, their fingers loosely intertwined as they held hands.

Kasamatsu sat on the bleachers beside Kaijou's basketball court, his hand trying desperately to cover up his reddening face as he looked at the picture [Name] had just texted him. Kise happened to be walking by when Kasamatsu checked the text and decided to look over his captain's shoulder to see what it was about. Quickly turning his phone away from Kise's prying eyes, Kasamatsu made sure the blonde hadn't seen the more than embarrassing photograph.

"Aw, come one Senpai!" Kise started whining, trying in vain to get a glimpse. "I want to see, too! It's not like you're looking at porn, right?!"

He promptly received a kick to the back of the head.


	7. First Names

When [Name] had worked up the resolve to visit Kasamatsu while he was at practice, she hadn't expected such an overwhelming turnout of people. More specifically, she hadn't expected the overwhelming amount of females to be at the Kaijou High School gym. She wondered whether the team was really that popular as she tried to make her way around a few girls in order to see what was at the front of the masses. She noticed for the most part that the girls were wearing Kaijou uniforms, but every so often there would be a uniform from another nearby school. She felt instantly awkward being the only one wearing a Seirin uniform.

Glancing at the time on her cellphone, she noticed that it had been a complete hour since school had ended. She had spent most of that time traveling from Seirin to Kaijou, hoping she would avoid the crowd—Kasamatsu had offhandedly told her once that their practices often drew unwanted attention—but upon reaching the gym, she realized that Kaijou's fans were much more dedicated than she had anticipated.

Finally making her way towards the front of the crowd, [Name] stood off towards the side. Her eyes were quickly drawn in towards the practicing boys on the court, watching as guys of all high school ages ran around the court and practiced the sport they all had in common. The squeaking of shoes and thudding of bouncing basketballs reached her ears, knocking into her the realization that she was actually watching her boyfriend's team practice. She couldn't help but wrinkle her nose as the stench of sweat lingered in the air. Subconsciously, she wondered how the other girls could stand the smell every day.

Without realizing it, another hour had passed and [Name] was slowly becoming the last female present in the gymnasium. The rest of the females had started to peel away from the gym, one by one, leaving with happy hearts as their minds were filled with pictures of their beloved basketball players. [Name] hadn't noticed when they started to leave, her eyes only focused on the only player with knee-high socks.

"Hey, there's still one left," [Name] heard a guy's voice say from a few feet beside her and she looked in the direction, watching as two basketball players walked towards her. Awkwardly looking around, she finally noticed that she was the only girl left in the gym. "You're one of Kise's fans right? He's not going to be done with practice for another hour."

"Yeah, the regulars are always staying back to practice for longer," his companion added. When they were only a foot away from [Name], he sent a wink in her direction. "But us first years get let out earlier than they are, so you want to grab something to eat with us?"

[Name] found herself opening her mouth to protest, wanting to come back with a witty comment of her own, but she was interrupted by another male voice behind her.

"Now, boys, that's no way to treat a pretty girl."

[Name] looked behind her to see a rather tall guy with narrow eyes approaching. She noticed how the first year boys shrank back a bit, their grins faltering.

"Ah, come on Moriyama-senpai, we weren't bothering her, right?"

"If she wants to stay and watch the regulars play, you should leave her be," Moriyama commented, shooing the first years away and out the door. Once they had left, he turned back towards [Name] and gave his own little wink. "You can go sit on the bleachers on the side if you like. A cute girl watching us is sure to bring our spirits up."

Scoffing a bit, [Name] took his invitation and hastily walked over to the bench beside the indoor court, her eyes once again roaming towards Kasamatsu's form. He had yet to notice her presence at all, too focused on giving orders and criticizing his teammates for the things they were doing. Every so often he would yell in frustration at someone and [Name] couldn't help but smile at his change in attitude. So this is what he was like when he wasn't a blushing, stuttering mess.

"Huh, [Name]-chan?" [Name] watched as a blonde basketball player came to sit beside her on the bench, his face dripping slightly with perspiration. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Kise-kun," she greeted, looking at him briefly before her eyes traveled back towards the court. "I wanted to watch Kasamatsu-kun play today. I haven't seen him since the last time we went out together for lunch."

"H-hah?! You're dating Kasamatsu-senpai?! No wonder he's been traveling to the other side of town so frequently!"

"Shut up!" [Name] felt a heated blush rise to her cheeks as she glared at the tall male. She hadn't realized that Kasamatsu hadn't told the blonde about their relationship yet, but couldn't blame him now that she saw how excitable Kise could be over the littlest things. "H-he's been my boyfriend for a couple weeks now… It's not a big deal."

"Eh, but of course it's a big deal [Name]cchi," Kise answered. [Name] was confused at the sudden nickname he gave her, but brushed it off as one of his weird quirks. "But you still call him so formally. I'll tell you what you should do!"

Kasamatsu threw the basketball in Kobori's direction, telling him to take over for a bit while he went to grab some water. Taking his eyes of his teammates for a moment, he looked towards the bleachers to see [Name]. His cheeks warmed upon realizing that she had traveled from her school just to see him practice like she had promised a few days ago. However, he twitched a bit upon realizing that Kise was also sitting next to [Name], uncomfortably close for his liking. Making his way over towards the two, he immediately punched Kise in the side, causing the blonde to double over and cough midsentence. [Name], who hadn't noticed the third year captain coming over until he had already committed his act of violence, gasped at the sudden movement, hands going to her mouth.

"Get back to practice, dumbass, before I make you regret it!" The blonde small forward quickly scurried back onto the court, apologizing through his fake tears and laughter. Taking a seat on the bench, Kasamatsu reached for his water bottle and took a long gulp before speaking again. "W-what are you doing here?" He tried his best not to stutter, his eyes focused on the basketball rather than his girlfriend.

"I told you I wanted to see you practice," she chirped happily, calming her laughter from the odd display she had just witnessed. The initial shock of Kasamatsu punching Kise wore off quickly as she realized it was probably a common occurrence. "You're really cool looking when you command your team! Like those cool guy protagonists that always lead their people to victory in movies. It's amazing!"

"A-ah, t-thanks." Kasamatsu cursed himself for getting automatically flustered at her complimenting words. "I-I should go b-back… Now."

"Okay, I'll talk to you once practice is over then, K-Kasamatsucchi."

Kasamatsu faltered in his step as he heard the embarrassing nickname and [Name] mentally kicked herself for stuttering. When Kasamatsu turned to finally look at her in the eyes, he was red faced from both embarrassment and slight annoyance.

"D-Don't call me that," he said gruffly, fists clenched slightly. "You'll remind me of that idiot, Kise, if you do."

[Name] mentally sighed to herself in relief, having hoped he would say something like that. In reality, when Kise had suggested she call Kasamatsu by such a cutesy nickname, [Name] had wanted to protest to the highest heavens. Having no other options however made it the only one she was left to choose. Nodding at his more than forced request, [Name] opened her mouth to speak once more before her confidence could dissolve with the air.

"If I can't call you that, then call I call you Yukio?"

She had looked him in the eye while asking him that, ignoring the heat that crept its way up her face. She watched as he bit the inside of his cheek, eyes darting from hers to elsewhere a few times before answering.

"Y-yeah, that's fine… A-As long as I c-can call you [Name]."

"That would be perfect."

The two nodded to each other in agreement, glad they had taken yet another step to deepen their relationship.

**{EXTRA}**

"Huh?! Wait, so you're telling me that the pretty girl over there is already dating Kasamatsu?!" Moriyama hung his head in despair once Kise told him the news, grumbling about how everyone but him had gotten with a girl at one point in their lives.

Kise could only laugh at his teammates misfortune, patting him on the back until a stray basketball nearly struck him in the face.

"Idiots, get back to practicing!"


	8. First I Love You

[Name] sighed in relief when she finally spotted the wide open doors of Kaijou's gym before her, jogging the rest of the way towards the entrance. Noting that the massive crowd of females were no longer present, she came to the conclusion that ordinary practice for the basketball club had ended long ago, leaving only the regulars behind. However, once she had approached the open doors to the gym, she noticed that neither the sound of bouncing basketballs nor the sound of squeaking shoes reached her ears. Looking inside, she noticed that the gym was completely empty. Worried, she quickly took her phone out of her bag, reading the time on the illuminated screen and sighing in self disappointment. She was fifteen minutes late for the end of basketball practice.

Frowning to herself, [Name] placed her phone back into her bag before wiping at the sweat that had started to form at her brow. She cursed her teacher for making her stay later than usual after class and she cursed herself for missing the first bus that would take her to Kaijou. Idly walking in the direction of Kaijou's school gates, she wondered if Kasamatsu had already left to go home.

"Hey, [Name]-san!"

The sudden call of her name caused the first year to falter in her step. She turned to look back towards the gym, noticing a few familiar people waving at her as they walked in her direction.

"Oh, hello again Kobori-senpai," [Name] greeted as Kasamatsu's teammates reached her. "It's nice to see you again. You too, Moriyama-senpai, Hayakawa-senpai, Kise-kun." She nodded to them all in greeting as she said their names, giving them all a charming smile.

"[Name]cchi, why didn't we see you during practice today?"

There it was. That nickname again. [Name] scrunched her face in slight confusion as she looked at the blonde, choosing to ignore his question in favor for her own. "Why do you call me that?"

"Eh? You're Kasamatsu-senpai's girlfriend now," Kise answered, as if it were the clearest reason to all her confusion. "Getting him to actually interact with a girl is a pretty amazing feat in itself. You must've been pretty persistent."

[Name] wasn't sure whether to take his answer as a compliment or not. Deciding to brush it off as one of those quirks she would never understand about the blonde, she answered his previous question from before with a heavy sigh.

"I really wanted to watch you all practice again, but I got held back to make up a math test I missed." [Name] scratched at the back of her head as she explained herself, avoiding the guys' eyes as she pouted to herself. Remembering that she had specifically wanted to watch Kasamatsu practice again, she looked around for said captain before asking. "Hey, where is Yukio anyway?"

Kobori smiled, having noticed the way the young Seirin student called Kaijou's captain by his given name. "He's discussing things with Coach Takeuchi about our upcoming game."

"You should come watch," Moriyama added in. "The more pretty girls in the audience, the better I can play."

"I would love to come watch you all play," [Name] said, ignoring Moriyama's usual flirtatious tone. Her smile widened as she thought about finally seeing her boyfriend's team in an official match.

"Come on, [Name]cchi, let's go wait for Kasamatsu-senpai at the front gates," Kise excitedly said, latching his arm into her own in order to easily drag the female along. He smiled down at her, his eyes shining with a mischievous glimmer. "We have some questions for you."

"Questions? Sure, what do you need to know?" [Name] asked, oblivious to the model's ulterior motives. As she was dragged along, she noticed that the other team members kept up in pace, following behind the pair.

"How did you meet him before you two started dating?" Kise asked, getting straight to the point.

"H-huh?" [Name] muttered, surprised by the question. "Well, we never really met prior to me asking him out…" [Name] thought back to the day she had first confessed to Kasamatsu, cringing at how awful it had been for the both of them. "I just saw him playing basketball once in junior high and thought he was cool. He's even cooler now that I actually know him..." She trailed off, smiling at the memory of a younger her watching a younger Kasamatsu play. Comparing the memory to an image of herself now, there wasn't much of a difference. She still got pretty giddy whenever he was able to make a basket and she would instantly melt when she saw his determined smile.

"So you confessed to him first?" Moriyama asked, butting into the conversation quickly before Kise could ask his next question. Kise, who was just about to ask the same thing, gave a pout as he looked at his senior.

"Yeah, I confessed first."

"And he rejected you." Kobori stated casually more than asked. [Name] only nodded in confirmation, not knowing quite why the guys would want this information.

"I don't know why he would reject such a cute girl," Moriyama sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I know I would've said yes in a heartbeat."

"You would've said yes to anybody that asked," Kobori muttered under his breath, earning a glare from Moriyama and a few laughs from [Name], Hayakawa, and Kise.

By now the small group had made their way to the front gates of the school. They slowed their pace to almost a crawl before coming to a stop near the school sign, standing in front of the big blue letters that announced Kaijou's presence to the area around it. Kise had let go of [Name]'s arm as soon as they made it to the front gate, choosing instead to waltz his way in front of the girl so she couldn't escape his form even if she wanted to. The other three basketball players stood to the side, watching as Kise continued his interrogation of the Seirin student. Every so often they would put in their own opinions or ask their own questions.

"Hey, if you liked him so much, why didn't you come to Kaijou?" Kise asked. He had finished asking her about her past and was now moving on to questions about the present.

[Name] sighed a bit, wondering if Kise's onslaught of questions would ever end. "My dad got transferred to a different office and my family moved homes so his commute wouldn't be too bad. Seirin was a lot closer to home than Kaijou, so it only made sense. Besides, why would I follow someone who clearly rejected me?"

Kise waggled his pointer finger, giving a small wink. "I'm the one asking questions [Name]cchi." Thinking to himself for a moment, Kise wrestled with his mind a bit to see if there were any more questions he had for [Name]. When none came to mind, he decided to just say what was on his mind, hoping more questions would come from the conversation. "So when you saw him again, you must've been really excited. Or nervous, I guess, since he rejected you before… But then you confessed again!"

[Name] felt herself flush in embarrassment at the memory of her second confession. She had forgotten that Kise had been there for the event as well. When the others started to ask Kise what had happened during the second confession and Kise had started describing in detail, hand motions and all, she had to stop herself from punching the blonde. Kasamatsu's violent tendencies were starting to rub off on her.

"I thought you were asking me questions," [Name] reminded them in order to save herself from further embarrassment at the memory.

"Oh yeah," Kise said, telling the guys he would tell them the rest of the story some other time. "So, how long have you guys been going out now?"

"Uh, almost a month and a half now," [Name] answered, thinking back to the night Kasamatsu had asked her to make their relationship official. Telling Kise to continue with his interrogation had been the wrong move after all, seeing as [Name] was slowly starting to find it harder to keep a blush from forming every time he asked her about her previous dates.

"How many guys did you date before?"

"Three."

"And how long did those last?"

"About two months at most."

"How long do you want this relationship to last?"

"A-As long as possible of course!" [Name] felt stupid for playing into Kise's game as he smiled at her answer in a mischievous way. Her cheeks continued to redden and she placed her hands upon them in a desperate attempt to hide the color.

"Oh," Kise drawled out in a teasing tone. "So, you really like Kasamatsu-senpai, huh?"

"I-I more than like him," she declared easily despite her darkening cheeks. Kise gave her yet another teasing smiling as he raised a single brow, asking her to continue. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she croaked out more words in a vain attempt to get Kise to end his questions. "What more do you want me to say? That I love him? B-because I do."

[Name] had closed her eyes in order to obtain the courage to say those words, but after realizing that she was met with only silence, she opened them in order to assess the boys' reaction. It confused her as to why they were all grinning widely until a strangled cough from behind caught her attention. Turning to look towards the noise, she was met with the sight of a very red faced Kasamatsu. He had a hand to his cheeks and his eyes were wide, darting back and forth between her and his teammates. [Name] could feel her own face flare up with another heated blush as her eyes met with Kasamatsu's steel blue ones.

"See, Senpai," Kise exclaimed, cutting into the awkward atmosphere with his bubbly personality, "There's no need for you to worry! [Name]cchi really does love you!"

Kise could only cry as he became the victim to countless kicks to the back.

**{EXTRA}**

Silently holding hands, Kasamatsu and [Name] walked to the station where they would part ways for the day. His teammates, who he had reprimanded harshly for their teasing, had already left and were long forgotten. As they walked, Kasamatsu couldn't help but replay [Name]'s and Kise's words in his mind. It would be the last time he confessed to the blonde about his relationship troubles ever again.

"I meant what I said," [Name] murmured, breaking Kasamatsu from his mental stupor. She wasn't looking at him, instead opting for gazing at the trees they passed by as the red of her cheeks slowly crept back. "I-I really do love you, Yukio."

Kasamatsu faltered in his steps before coming to a halt, causing his younger companion to stop as well. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, incomprehensible syllables spluttering forth as he tried to gather his thoughts. Finally, after a moment, he took a deep breath.

"I-I love you too, [Name]."


	9. First Tears

[Name] apologized as she jostled her way passed people that were leaving the audience, cursing herself for not breaking free from the crowd once the ending buzzer had sounded off. She had been too shocked, frozen to her seat when the game had ended. The feeling of dread had washed over her entire being as she read the scores over and over again. Kaijou had lost—granted, it was a very close game, the scores going back and forth between all four quarters, but the team had just run out of steam by the time the end of the fourth quarter came around. Their opponents, a team from a school [Name] had never heard of, just had more stamina than those in Kaijou, ultimately earning them the victory.

Finally making her way out of the crowd, [Name] ran for the area she knew the locker rooms would be in. More specifically, she ran towards where she knew Kaijou's locker room would be. As she ran, she passed by a plethora of athletes sporting different jerseys from all over the surrounding geographical area. Many schools she couldn't even recognize save for the few she remembered considering when she entered high school. Most guys she passed were sporting large grins as they talked about previous games they played or those yet to come, excitement evident in their voices. It reminded [Name] of how they all had been only a few days ago when the competition began.

* * *

_Bouncing in her seat slightly, [Name] couldn't keep the excited grin off her face as she watched the rest of the Kaijou basketball team load onto the rented bus. Beside her, Kasamatsu was staring at her behavior with a confused, yet slightly annoyed expression. His eye twitched a bit as she obliviously continued to bounce in place, unknowingly bothering Kaijou's captain. A complete minute passed and, once she showed no signs of stopping on her own, Kasamatsu found he would have to take the initiative. Grasping onto her smaller hand, he tugged on it slightly to get her attention, effectively getting her to cease her movement._

_"Oi, what are you so giddy about all of a sudden?"_

_"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, only to be answered with a blank look that told her to continue. "This is the first time I'm going to see you play in an actual game and not some practice one or friendly one brought on by my friends at Seirin." Lifting her free hand towards her face so it could rest on her reddening cheeks, [Name] looked her boyfriend in the eyes. Kasamatsu could practically see them sparkling. "I'll finally be able to see you in your official basketball jersey!"_

_Kasamatsu sputtered a bit at her confession and immediately retreated his hand from hers, lifting both of his in an attempt to cover up the blush creeping onto his face. Behind him, he could hear the rest of his teammates let out a string of laughter at their captain's embarrassment._

_"Hey, what about me, [Name]cchi?" Kise asked, leaning his arm on the back of her seat. "You're excited to see me play too, right?"_

_[Name] could only nod at the blonde boy before Kasamatsu roughly shoved Kise's face away from his girlfriend's, not liking the proximity he was in. Whining to himself about the rough behavior, Kise retreated into his own seat, faux tears prickling at the corner of his eyes due to his senior's roughhousing._

_"Enough laughter already," Kasamatsu announced to the bus once the last of the team had settled in. Standing from his seat, he turned to face his teammates. [Name] could only watch in awe as his leadership skills shined. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to win this thing!"_

_The occupants in the bus cheered as Kasamatsu went through his speech, everyone grinning with determination in their eyes. When the bus had started moving and Kasamatsu's speech had ended, [Name] could practically feel the team's excitement rolling around in the air. As he sat next to her, she couldn't help but find her initial admiration for him had grown stronger over the course of their relationship._

_"I promise to cheer extra loud for you if you promise to play extra hard."_

_Kasamatsu merely nodded, grin settled on his features._

* * *

Finally making it to the hallway she knew Kaijou's locker room was located in, [Name] slowed her running pace to a speed walk. Five doors down and she would be just outside the place the team would retire to after every game. She held her breath in suspense when she noticed familiar blue jackets that had already exited the locker room. All their faces dejected, they looked towards the ground as they shuffled their way towards the stairwell that would lead them to the audience seating. Now that they couldn't play anymore, they would have to spend their time watching the rest of the games before going home.

"Oh, [Name]cchi."

Kise was the first to notice the young Seirin female, looking at her with eyes that seemed to be fighting back a good amount of tears. His voice had lost of all his usual pep and his leg muscles seemed to twitch at every little movement he made. It came as a surprise to her that he was still standing, seeing as he had probably played the hardest out of all the Kaijou members.

Jogging the distance between herself and the team, [Name] noticed her boyfriend's lack of presence from amongst the group. Noticing her worried glance, Moriyama pointed back towards the locker room.

"He said he wanted to hang out in there for a while."

Nodding in thanks, [Name] made her way passed the rest of the team, a few of them giving her reassuring pats on the back as they marched off towards the audience bleachers. [Name] could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears as she approached the door to the locker room, a hesitant hand reaching up to knock on the wooden door.

"Damn it!" The outburst, followed by a loud metallic sound, caused her to flinch, retreating her hand from the door as if its mere presence had burned her. Trying again a moment later, she immediately reached for the doorknob instead, turning it and entering the room before anyone else's prying eyes could see.

"Y-Yukio?"

He was standing at the far end of the lockers, head cast towards the ground and a fist up against a locker's door. His arm was shaking due to punching the cold metal in frustration and his jaw was clenched tightly, eyes screwed shut in an attempt to not show any more emotion than necessary. He had failed once again. He had failed his team, he had failed his coach, and he had failed himself. Kasamatsu felt like a fool for believing he could carry Kaijou to victory. Growling in frustration, he lifted his fist to punch at the locker door once again, the sting from the impact reverberating up his entire arm.

Worry and panic washed over [Name] when she saw a few tear drops fall from his face to the tiled floor below and she quickly made her way to his side, removing his now bruised hand from its place against the lockers. Her heart ached seeing him like this, but it hurt her more knowing that he was trying to bottle up all his emotion. Not knowing what to do or say, she merely stood to the side of him, finally wrapping her arms around his waist once a moment of dead silence had passed. Kasamatsu stiffened at the gesture, not wanting to seem weak in her embrace.

"I think it's stupid, you know?" She murmured after feeling him tense up. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but in the quiet of the empty locker room it spoke volumes. "It's stupid how guys feel like they need to be stronger by not showing any emotion. It's okay, you know? To feel."

"Y-yeah…"

[Name] tightened her grip on him as the first tears of many started cascading down his face.

**{EXTRA}**

Once the tears had stopped coming from his eyes and his body stopped shaking, Kasamatsu finally got a sense of his surroundings. His knuckles hurt, his heart ached, there was a pressure on his abdomen from where his girlfriend was holding him tightly, and his clothes felt a little damper than they had previously. Pulling away from her embrace, Kasamatsu held [Name] at an arm's length to get a good look at her.

"Idiot, why are you crying too?" He said, the usual bite in his insult gone. He reached his hands up to her face, his thumbs rubbing at the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes.

"I-I-I get s-sympathy t-tears, okay?!" [Name] hiccupped, lightly slapping his hands away before furiously rubbing at her eyes to rid herself of the embarrassing waterworks. "S-so it's y-your f-fault I'm c-crying, st-stupid."


	10. First Time

Author's Note: Just as a warning, this chapter contains sexual content. If you feel uncomfortable reading those sort of things, please feel free to skip this chapter.

"Man, this sucks," Kasamatsu sighed.

The day had turned out to be a rather dull one for the Kaijou third year. Currently, he was cooped up in his room, idly playing a random melody on his guitar as his steel blue eyes watched the rain fall outside his window. The clouds, which had come from the North, had been blocking out the sun for most of the day, but had only started their onslaught of raindrops a few minutes ago. Had it not been for the sudden downpour, Kasamatsu was sure he would be outside with his basketball by now.

Glancing over at his cellphone which he had left on the edge of his bedside table, he noted that [Name] hadn't texted him back in quite a while. They had been messaging each other back and forth since they had awoken, talking about the next time they could go out together. The sudden halt in their conversation didn't surprise Kasamatsu, however, because it was often that his girlfriend would set her phone down while she did chores, only to forget where she had placed it. He was getting used to the long pauses between conversations.

Humming quietly to himself, Kasamatsu set his guitar down next to his bed as he got up from his lazing position, deciding that it was high time he got himself a drink. Wandering through his hallways until he reached the kitchen, he noted how quiet the house seemed to be. With both his parents being busy at work, he had no one to have mindless chitchat with as the day sluggishly crawled on. He went to grab a drink from the fridge, expecting to be able to quietly go back to his room. The sound of the doorbell echoing through his house dashed those expectations, however, and Kasamatsu found himself mentally complaining about his sudden, unexpected guest as he forgot about his thirst. Dragging his bare feet slightly as he reached the front door, he swung it wide open, ready to berate whoever it was visiting him.

"Hi, Yukio," [Name] chirped as she stood in front of him. Her hair and clothes were dripping, making it obvious that she had been caught in the rain, but her smile still shined bright as she looked up to her boyfriend.

"Idiot," Kasamatsu reprimanded her as he tugged her into his home and out of the rain. He watched as she took off her sandals at his doorstep, her feet slightly muddy from wearing the wrong kind of footwear in the current weather. "This is how you got sick last time. Don't you ever learn, stupid?"

Brushing off Kasamatsu's unintentional harsh words, [Name] ran a hand through her hair and gave him a sheepish smile. "I wasn't expecting the rain to come down as soon as I left the station."

"Why didn't you call me?" Kasamatsu asked, leading her down the hall towards the bathroom so she could dry off. "I could've come to get you."

"My phone died on the way here," [Name] answered honestly, showing him the lifeless cellphone. She would have to borrow his charger before heading home so her parents wouldn't worry.

After handing her a fresh towel, Kasamatsu quickly jogged over to his room and searched around for a clean shirt and shorts. He wouldn't make the same mistake as last time and allow her to parade around in her damp clothes. When he had found a decent pair, he went back to the bathroom where he had left the first year girl and threw them at her. She caught them clumsily, not expecting the articles of clothing to be flung in her direction. When she looked at him in question while holding the clothes up, he could only look away with a slight tinge of red on his cheeks.

"You should change out of those dripping clothes so you don't get sick again," he answered her unspoken question. "You can throw the wet ones in the dryer down the hall afterwards."

Nodding in thanks and telling him that she would also take a quick, warm shower, [Name] closed the bathroom door with a click. As she showered, Kasamatsu traveled back to his room and once again lounged on his bed, back against the headboard as he picked up his guitar to play the same random melody from before. He forced his mind to go blank as he played, not wanting to think about the naked form of his girlfriend now in his home. However, being a teenage boy with a working libido, he couldn't help but imagine the curvatures of her body which were always hidden from view. His hand twitched as he thought about skimming his digits over her skin, hearing his name murmured through her lips. Heat found its way onto his face and into his groin and Kasamatsu couldn't help but let off a strangled groan as he tried to shove inappropriate thought into the back of his mind.

"Yukio, these shorts are too big for me."

The sound of [Name]'s voice had caught him off guard for a moment and he looked towards his doorway. She was standing in the threshold, the shorts he had offered her in one hand as she held them up for him to see. She was wearing his shirt now and, thankfully, the fabric was just long enough to cover her intimate areas. It looked more like a mini dress on her than it did a shirt.

Sitting upright in his bed, Kasamatsu instructed her to simply toss the shorts into a pile on the floor. After doing so, she walked over to join him in sitting on the bed. Kasamatsu couldn't keep the color from finding his face as he noticed the shirt inch up her bare thighs as she sat. His heart skipped a beat and his hands felt like they would start trembling any second. He wanted to feel the warmth of her skin against his palms.

"What're you playing?" [Name] asked after a moment, hand gesturing to the guitar still in Kasamatsu's hold. His strangled response caused the girl to laugh a bit in awkward confusion and she wondered if he had started reverting back to his nervous ways. "Can you teach me?"

"S-s-sure," Kasamatsu answered, handing over his precious instrument carefully. As he did, his hand accidently brushed up against her shirt covered breast and Kasamatsu quickly retreated when he realized she wasn't wearing a bra. He started sputtering out apologies as he noticed [Name] go red as well, covering her chest with her arms.

"I-It was wet t-too, so I decided to throw it in the dryer," she hastily explained. Setting the guitar down onto the floor gently, she crawled further onto the bed and slightly away from Kasamatsu, facing her back to him as she curled her knees close to her chest. After a pregnant moment of silence, she dared herself to take a peek at the flustered male. She was shocked to find him staring right back at her, the embarrassed heat on his cheeks contrasting with the wanton look in his eyes. "Y-Yukio?"

Slowly, as to not scare her away, Kasamatsu neared the blushing girl, his eyes locking onto her lips as he leaned in to give her a kiss. It had started off gentle, a mere meeting between two pairs of lips, but when [Name] took the initiative to kiss back they both soon found themselves in the heat of the moment. Kasamatsu pushed on her shoulder, causing the girl to lay flat on his bed with him hovering over her. Hastily, he pressed another feverish kiss onto her lips, this one more needy as his hands went to grasp gently at her hips. [Name]'s own hands, which had fallen to her sides when she was pushed over, quickly found their way around his neck as she hugged him closer to deepen the kiss. Pulling apart, both teens panted as they stared at one another, eyes filled with want.

"[Name]…" Kasamatsu hesitated, feeling his heart race as he realized what would happen if they continued. He felt the heat in his groin intensify and knew that, if she didn't stop him now, there would be no stopping his lust driven actions.

"Yukio," [Name] groaned, one of her hands releasing its hold on him as she ran it down the length of her own body to calm the fire crawling under her skin. As she did this, Kasamatsu watched as her body automatically reacted, hips arching and nipples showing through the thin fabric of his shirt. She wanted it just as much as he did. There was no going back.

Kasamatsu didn't know if it was the right move to remove her shirt now, but he didn't care. Tossing it to the side once the fabric was out of the way, he forcefully placed his lips upon hers and reached one hand up to play with her breasts before she could attempt to cover her naked torso. Their teeth knocked against each other at the force of the kiss and [Name] couldn't help but hiss in pain a bit before submitted herself to her boyfriend's heated touch. Nibbling at his lips, [Name] felt an intense heat pool between her legs. She rubbed her thighs together, trying desperately to relieve herself of the feeling.

When Kasamatsu pulled away from the heated kiss, his eyes locked onto [Name]'s face, watching as she conveyed her own pleasurable need. He didn't know where to go from here, his obvious inexperience causing him to flush red as he wondered what to do. Deciding to let his hormonal instincts take over, he ran a calloused hand down her stomach, watching as she twitched a bit from the action. By the time his touch had reached the edge of her panties, her eyes had opened to look at him with a glazed expression. Gently, he tugged the damp cloth away from her sex before allowing it to snap back in place.

"A-Ah, Yukio," [Name] whimpered, embarrassed at the noises she made. Her hands reached down for his, desperately trying to get him to satisfy her aching need. "P-please, don't tease anymore."

Nodding more to himself than to her, Kasamatsu quickly removed her panties, exposing her to the chilly air. [Name] shivered and wanted to cross her legs to keep him from staring, but Kasamatsu kept one hand on either thigh, forcing them open gently. One hand crawled forward along her skin, fingertips brushing up against her folds and drawing out delicious moans from her vocal chords. Kasamatsu groaned lowly as he felt his pants get tighter around his groin, knowing full well that his girlfriend's display was turning him on. Slowly, curiously, he slipped a single finger into her.

"Y-Yukio!" [Name] stuttered, covering her face with one hand as the other grasped at his bed sheets. She trembled under his touch as he moved his finger within her, slowly adding a second one after she had accommodated the first. Closing her eyes at the pleasure she was feeling, she begged for a release. She was left hanging, however, when he quickly pulled away.

"D-don't look…" Kasamatsu mumbled as he shifted off the bed.

The sound of a drawer opening and closing caught her attention and she opened her eyes, peeking through her fingers just in time to see Kasamatsu slip out of his clothes. He crawled back onto the bed, settling himself between her legs before he paused in hesitation. Between his fingers was a neat, foiled packet. A condom. Eyeing the wrapped up latex, Kasamatsu flushed and thought about how embarrassing it had been for him to buy this on his own. How was he supposed to explain to his girlfriend that he had actually been waiting for this day to happen?

As if reading his mind, [Name] sat up a bit and took the foil wrapped condom from his hands, carefully tearing the package open. "Y-You don't have to tell me how you got it." Placing the clear latex against his now unclothed erection, she carefully rolled it down his length, blushing as she heard him moan.

Laying back down on the bed, [Name] couldn't help but shake a bit in nervous excitement as Kasamatsu hovered over her, his hips nestled between her thighs. She could feel his erection twitching against her entrance. Looking him directly in the eyes, [Name] brought her arms up once more to pull the older teen into a kiss before allowing her eyes to flutter shut. Slowly, she felt him press himself into her, groaning as he did so. The further he went, the more wound up she felt as he filled her aching sex. Pulling away from the kiss, she chose instead to bite her lip at the odd sensation.

"Y-You okay?" Kasamatsu asked once he was buried in deep. He had to force himself to stay still, not wanting to hurt her in the slightest.

"Y-Yeah. F-Fine." Her short, clipped answers only worried him and he gave her a look that said he would stop if she wanted to. "It's just slightly u-uncomfortable. W-Weird feeling."

After a moment of being still, [Name] found herself begging Kasamatsu to move. Following her wishes, he pulled out slowly, only to slide back into her at a quicker pace than before then repeating the process. As she moaned his name, begging him for more, his thrusts became quicker, more erratic as his desperate need for a release dawned on him. He watched as [Name] reached a hand down to where he was ramming himself into her, her fingers finding her clit as she pleasured herself further. Her cries became louder, coming more frequently as she tried to move her hips against his and Kasamatsu could feel her inner muscles contract and spasm against his aching organ.

"Yukio, I, a-ah," [Name] barely got out comprehensible words as her body reacted to his movements. Suddenly, with a silent cry as her eyes screwed shut in intense pleasure, [Name] felt her orgasm wash over her. She moaned out Kasamatsu's name as she finished, her release causing her mind to grow fuzzy.

Feeling her tighten around him, Kasamatsu gasped at the sudden intense pressure he was feeling. He thrust a few more times, his body shaking as his long awaited release finally came. As he let the pleasure of his orgasm overtake him, he placed his head close to [Name]'s neck, kissing at her collarbone. Finally, he pulled away from her, causing the younger girl to whimper at the emptiness she now felt. Gently, he pulled off the used condom and tied it shut before tossing it into the trash bin in his room. [Name] tugged on his arm and forced him to lay next to her on the bed, humming as she contently pressed sweet kisses to any part of his skin she could find.

"I love you," she murmured, closing her eyes as she pressed her forehead to his.

Kasamatsu merely grunted in response and [Name] smiled at the answer. They both knew what he meant.

**{EXTRA}**

"Yukio, we're home!"

The sudden yell from his parents at the front door caused Kasamatsu to curse as he found the energy in himself to run to his bedroom's door, slamming it closed. Both teens scrambled around the room, trying to find appropriate clothing before his parents could ask any questions.


	11. First Tears 2

Watching as the credits scrolled across the screen on the television, the young couple sitting comfortably on the living room couch adverted their eyes from the screen, no longer interested in what was being displayed. [Name] had been leaning against Kasamatsu's shoulder throughout the entirety of the movie, but broke that contact immediately as she went to reach for the remote to switch the television's power to off. As she did this, Kasamatsu rolled his shoulder a couple times. It had started to get numb from her leaning on it, but he hadn't mentioned it to her once.

"Where's the bathroom again?"

[Name] rolled her eyes with a smile as she set the remote down onto the armrest of the couch. "Down the hall, first door on the left," she answered, wondering why he had already forgotten. It wasn't like this was the first time he came over to her home.

Nodding in thanks, Kasamatsu stood from his seat, effectively causing the balance on the couch to shift. [Name] watched as he walked away before turning her attention back to the small living room table that was in front of the couch the pair had been lounging on. Her school planner, where she had logged down important dates and events, was placed haphazardly on the table's edge and she leaned forward to pick it up, flipping through the remaining pages. She had torn out all the pages with dates that had passed, making it easy to determine just how long in the school year she had left before her next vacation. The book was getting thinner faster, only a few pages left to represent the small amount of weeks she had left for school. Suddenly she felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes.

* * *

Kasamatsu didn't know what had happened while he was away from his girlfriend. When he had left her alone in the living room she was all smiles, content with the movie they had watched and probably already thinking about the next one they could see. Upon his return, however, he found her curled into a ball on the edge of the couch, knees folded close to her chest and arms wrapped around her legs. Her face was down, hiding from the world and he could hear the distinctive sound of her sobs and hiccups escaping from her lips. She had yet to hear him enter.

Not bothering with words, Kasamatsu quickly made his way over to her side and sat back down on the couch. The shift in the furniture caused her to stiffen a bit and her cries faltered a bit as she tried in vain to stop. Before she could reach her hands up to rub furiously at her eyes, Kasamatsu caught her smaller hands in his own, pulling her closer until her head was resting gently on his chest. When she stopped protesting and finally relaxed in his embrace, he let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her, letting her know he was there to comfort.

Looking around for clues as to why she could be so upset, he found his steel blue eyes scanning the living room critically. When his sight landed on the school planner, he noticed that it had been opened to one of the last few pages. There were a few dates on the page that were marked as important, but only one had been circled in the attempt to catch the reader's attention right away. Immediately, he knew the reason for her tears.

"There's no need to cry," he said softly, eyes never leaving the date on the planner that was circled in bright red marker. "I'll come back to visit."

"I-I'm crying b-because of the m-movie, i-idiot," she bit back, her voice wavering as the tears continued to stream from her eyes. "I t-told you, I-I get sympathy t-tears."

They both knew she was lying.

More than a few minutes of silence passed between the two of them, only the sound of her hiccups and sobs filtering through the air as Kasamatsu let her release all her pent up emotions. Kasamatsu could feel his shirt soak through with her tears and he rubbed her back awkwardly, hoping she would stop crying soon. Eventually, when her tears had calmed quite a bit and she had stopped hiccupping every few seconds, [Name] pulled back from her boyfriend's embrace. His arms slid from around her to hold her hands, absentmindedly rubbing small circles onto the back of her hand with his thumbs. She was still looking down to hide her face, eyes avoiding his piercing gaze.

"A smart person once told me it's okay to feel," Kasamatsu said, blushing in embarrassment as he quoted the words she had spoken to him when she found him as a sobbing mess. He felt her hands squeeze his and watched as she lifted her head to look at him. Her frown had changed into the slightest of smiles as she recognized the words he spoke.

"Yukio…" [Name] trailed off, swallowing the lump in her throat down so she could speak clearly. Her voice was raw from the crying she had done and she hoped she didn't sound too stupid. "I'm thinking about getting a job."

"W-what?" Kasamatsu stammered, confused about the sudden change in topic.

[Name] removed her hands from his larger ones, grasping at the edge of her shirt so she could wipe the tears away from her eyes. Once she had finished cleaning up and had replaced her shirt to its original position, she looked at him with determination. He couldn't help but think she looked a little odd, looking so confident with eyes that were rubbed to a raw red color.

"We only have a couple more months before you graduate," she exclaimed, pointing at the offending planner she had thrown at the table when she started crying. "And after that, we only have one summer left before you leave for college…" When she trailed off, Kasamatsu thought she was about to start crying again, but he watched as she took a deep breath and calmed her next wave of upcoming tears before speaking once more. "So I've decided I need to get a job if I'm ever going to visit you on campus."

"[Name]… You don't have to do that." Despite his protests, Kasamatsu couldn't help but feel warmed by the fact she would go through so much to be with him.

"Of course I do," she stated in a matter-of-fact fashion. "Train tickets aren't cheap and if I'm going to visit you, I'm going to need money. I'm not going to rely on my parent's for every trip. Besides, who knows how often you'll be allowed to visit me?"

"O-oi, how often do you plan on visiting?!"

"As often as I can!"

Kasamatsu sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing he wouldn't be able to argue her out of this decision. He could only give her a small smile, thinking about how lucky he was to be with someone just as dedicated as he was.

**{EXTRA}**

"Yukio, you should get a single person dorm room."

Kasamatsu felt heat immediately rise to his cheeks at [Name]'s suggestion and the sexual intent behind it.

"N-no! Don't even suggest things like that, stupid!"

He would never tell her he had already been considering it.


	12. First Job

"Come on, Senpai, you can't keep [Name]cchi all to yourself!"

Kasamatsu felt his hand twitch as he fought the overwhelming urge to punch his blonde teammate. They were currently walking down the sidewalk towards the station, Kise falling in step next to the older male as he clasped his hands in a pleading gesture. Behind them, Moriyama, Kobori, and Hayakawa were following along, already used to the act going on before them. Secretly, they wondered if Kasamatsu would finally give in to Kise's pleas today.

"[Name]cchi barely comes over to visit us anymore," Kise whined. "And you're always leaving to visit her without us. I want to see [Name]cchi, too!"

"She doesn't come over because she has work after classes now, dumbass," Kasamatsu answered angrily as he shoved the blonde away from him, effectively causing Kise to stumble over a few steps. "You'd only bother her if you came by!"

The scowl on his face deepened as Kise continued to whine about Kasamatsu selfish attitude. This continued for the next five minutes, Kise coming up with reasons why he should be allowed to visit and Kasamatsu retorting with reasons why he shouldn't, until eventually they came to the part of their journey where they would have to split up. Taking a left would lead them to the station where they could get transportation to [Name]'s part of town; this was the direction Kasamatsu intended to take. Taking a right would lead them all towards their own homes; this was the direction Kasamatsu hoped Kise would take. He groaned as Kise latched onto his uniform sleeve, trying one last vain attempt to convince the Kaijou captain.

"I promise I won't be a bother!" Kise was about ready to grovel. "Please, Senpai!"

"I already said no! Go home already!"

"You know, Kise," Kobori piped in after the blonde had been rejected for the umpteenth time that day. "You could always visit [Name] on your own another day. I'm sure Kasamatsu wants to be alone with her and she probably wouldn't mind seeing you."

Kasamatsu felt himself twitch at his fellow third year's words and Kise's approving response. He imagined the blonde model visiting [Name] at work and it caused a newfound anger to blossom inside of him as he glared at Kobori, cursing him for giving Kise the idea. In turn, Kobori gave him a knowing smile. Kasamatsu knew what he was thinking. Having Kise visit while Kasamatsu was there to chaperone would be better than letting Kise visit on his own. The Kaijou captain could feel his teeth grind a bit as he begrudgingly started dragging Kise in the direction of the station.

"Fine, you can visit today."

"Eh," Kise said, confused for a moment as he allowed himself to be led. When Kasamatsu words registered in his mind, he broke free from his senior's grasp and clenched an excited fist. "Yay! We all get to see [Name]cchi today!"

"A-All?"

Behind them, Kasamatsu noticed how the other Kaijou regulars were still following. His long day had just become five times longer.

* * *

"Welcome," a bubbly voice said as she greeted the incoming customers. "Oh, Kasamatsu-kun, it's nice to see you again. [Name]-chan's already working, so if you're lucky she may be your waitress again today."

Kasamatsu nodded in greeting to the hostess of the café, his movements a little shaky as he avoided looking at the older woman. He couldn't remember her name even though he had been there so many times before and he refused to look at the nametag that was pinned right above her breast. He scowled a bit, hearing a soft recognizing gasp elicit from her lips.

"O-Oh, you're Kise-kun, the model!" The hostess started gushing, staring at the young blonde male in awe. Her cheeks started to go pink as she quickly picked up a few menus from the podium beside her. "[Name]-chan mentioned knowing you because of her boyfriend, but I would never imagine you ever visiting us here!"

Kasamatsu could hear Kise laugh lightheartedly with the hostess, his tone airy as he accepted her gushing compliments. Quickly, as to not get flustered further, she handed the menus to another waitress and had the other girl lead them to a table. Kasamatsu found himself feeling a little disappointed when he noticed that he was being led to a table that wasn't the one he usually sat at. He usually sat at a rather small table by himself, so of course he would need a larger one with his company trailing behind him.

"Oh, look, there's [Name]-chan," Moriyama commented, pointing over to the young first year who had been taking another table's order. "Wow, she looks super cute in that uniform."

Moriyama continued to talk about the rest of the waitresses in the café as they all sat at their table, wondering if he could possibly get a date with one of the single ones. Kasamatsu found himself tuning out the shooting guard as his eyes followed [Name]'s movements. Briefly, their eyes met and he noticed how his girlfriend's cheeks reddened a bit as she noticed him and his company. She gave a small wave and a smile before scurrying off somewhere behind the counter. He knew the table they were at now wasn't technically one she dealt with and he could imagine her now, begging their waitress to take her place. The small smile he had while watching her immediately left as he felt Kise tug his sleeve in excitement.

"This café has a lot of different selections, huh Kasamatsu-senpai," Kise stated as he read through the menu, "There's so much to choose from!"

"Not only that, but there are so many cute girls to look at too," Moriyama chimed in, his eyes following whichever waitress happened to cross his line of vision. "If you don't invite us again, I think I may just have to start coming here on my own."

Kasamatsu groaned as he thought about his teammates visiting the café alone. He felt embarrassed knowing that, by allowing them to visit with him today, they would now be associated with him every time they came by. He didn't want to be known as the guy with the annoying friends that didn't know how to shut up. Before he could yell at them for their future decisions, a soft yet happy voice interrupted him, effectively getting him to tense up at the sound of her voice. He felt ridiculous from still getting so nervous around her in public after all they had done together, a light pink dusting his cheeks as he looked at her.

"Welcome to our café. I'm [Name] and I'll be your waitress today." [Name] went through her rehearsed script in her head, a pad of paper in one hand and a pen in the other. Once she finished with her mandatory lines, she looked at each member at the table, giving them a warm greeting. "It's so nice to see you all again. What brings you here today?"

"Kise wanted to visit," Kobori answered.

"Yeah, it's not fair that Kasamastsu-senpai keeps you all to himself," Kise whined, pointing an accusatory finger at the older male. Kasamatsu quickly punched him in his side, telling the blonde to quiet down as to not embarrass them.

[Name] laughed, the hand with the notepad reaching up to cover her lips as she did so. "That's sweet of you for wanting to visit. I've been wanting to stop by Kaijou for a while now, but I don't want to take a day off so soon since I've only just started working here." Suddenly, she was all business as she held up the notepad so they could see it, pen at the ready. "Speaking of which, are you guys ready to order?"

The guys nodded in affirmation, telling her one by one what they wanted to order. Jotting them down on the notepad as they did so, she nodded at their choices, often butting in with her own opinions about the foods and drinks they wanted. When it came time for Kasamatsu to order, she stopped him with an upraised palm, smiling sweetly.

"It's okay, I already know what you want."

Kasamatsu nodded, the light blush on his cheeks from earlier still present. He had been over so many times and had ordered the same thing each time. "I'll leave it to you then," he responded, knowing full well that she knew exactly what he wanted.

Bowing a bit as she backed away from their table, she bid them a short farewell as she went to place their order. As soon as she left, a new wave of gushing conversation erupted from the table as Kasamatsu's teammates talked about the different aspects of the café surrounding them. Kasamatsu decided it would be best for him to tune them all out unless they specifically asked for his opinion, knowing full well that their words would only serve to embarrass him further

* * *

"Okay, here you all go," [Name] chirped as she approached the table fifteen minutes later.

She was holding onto a tray which was precariously balanced on her shoulder. Slowly, so she wouldn't drop the items on the tray, she placed it down on the table so she could hand them all their individual orders. She placed their orders directly in front of them, placing her boyfriend's order down last with a sheepish grin as she gauged his reaction. She had placed his usual drink in front of him, but it looked a little different today. The cream of his drink, which was usually well blended into it, had formed an odd shape in the mug and he couldn't quite make it out right away.

"It's supposed to be a heart," [Name] answered his unasked question when he looked at her silently. She looked in the opposite direction with a blush. "My coworker knows how to make it look better, but she let me try this time since it was for you… I-I'm sorry, it looks awful."

Kasamatsu felt an embarrassed heat overcome his face as he looked at the cup more closely, noticing how the odd shape was kind of heart-like now that he knew what it was supposed to be. He started to stammer a bit, his eyes avoiding looking at her as his teammates silently cooed at the public display of affection. Kasamatsu shook his head is disagreement, his hand reaching up to rub nervously at the back of his neck. He could feel the heat of his skin radiating off of himself.

"I-It looks f-fine. T-Thanks."

[Name] smiled, accepting his thanks as she hurriedly left the table with promises of returning to check up on them once in a while. After she had left, Kasamatsu went to pick up his cup, his shaking hand causing the lopsided heart in it to quiver in the liquid and slowly dissolve. He took a small sip of it, his brows lowering a bit as he gave a barely noticeable smile.

She had made it too sweet.

**{EXTRA}**

After the small group had finished their treats and paid their bill, [Name] walked them to the front door where the hostess was standing at her podium. She waved at the basketball players, saying goodbye to them one by one. When Kasamatsu passed her by, she stopped him and placed a quick peck on his cheek. He flushed red and returned the favor before following along with his team.

"See you later, guys. Make sure to come back and visit soon."

"I'll make sure to come visit you while you're on break next time, [Name]cchi!"

"I-Idiot, don't you dare!"


	13. First Big Scare

[Name] found herself impatiently pacing around the bathroom, her hands wringing themselves together as she looked for something to distract her from waiting. Her brows were furrowed in worry as her eyes fixated on the ground below her, watching her steps as she paced in circles in the small space. She was nervous and for good reason. On the polished counter of her bathroom, placed gently on a small pile of toilet paper, was a used pregnancy test. The instructions on the box had said the answer would appear on the device in only a few minutes and [Name] thought she would be patient enough to wait for it, but as time ticked on she found herself close to hyperventilation. There was no way she could be pregnant. No way at all.

Actually, there was one way.

* * *

_Sighing in bliss, [Name] curled into herself a bit as she hugged a pillow to her naked chest. She had a warm smile on her face and a content blush was heating her cheeks. Absentmindedly, she watched as Kasamatsu sluggishly crawled away from her and off the bed, gently removing the now used condom._

_"Fuck."_

_Had she been any farther into euphoria, [Name] would've mistaken Kasamatsu's sudden curse as a suggestion for another round. Closing her eyes, she felt her muscles relax as she murmured out a response to his distress._

_"What's wrong, Yukio?"_

_"The condom's broken…"_

_[Name] immediately sat upright in the bed, staring at Kasamatsu with incredulous eyes. She swore her heart skipped a beat as she spotted the offending piece of latex in her boyfriend's hands, the colored plastic dripping slightly with semen. Suddenly, she didn't feel so warm and cheery as before as she inspected the hole that could be clearly seen. Her face paled, worried eyes meeting just as equally worried steel blue ones._

_"How did you not notice that before?!"_

_Kasamatsu flinched at her outburst, having gotten used to the quiet tone she often used whenever they had sex. He shrugged shamefully, tossing the failed protection into his rubbish bin before it could leak onto his room's carpet. Grabbing a tissue from the box on his bedside table, he wiped the remaining fluids from his hands before banishing the trash to the very same bin._

_"I-I thought it felt… different… b-but I never thought it would…" he admitted, trailing off as his mind started to wander to places that made him worry. There was no way she could get pregnant. He wouldn't be the cause for ruining her life so early on._

* * *

The hour after that, the pair had freshened up and went out to the drugstore, pulling their money together to buy an emergency contraceptive pill. Kasamatsu had insisted on paying for it in full, but [Name] wouldn't allow it, saying that it had been both of their faults.

"It takes two to tango," she had said, alluding to their acts but not wanting prying ears to understand so easily.

After taking the pill, the couple had felt a sense of relief wash over them. Surely, this would ensure that she wouldn't conceive a child before she was ready. They were calm for one and a half weeks before panic consumed them once more and they found themselves in the very same drugstore.

*-there should be a line here but failfiction refuses to make it happen, sorry, this is so unprofessional, hopefully I can fix this later-*

_"Which one should I buy…?" [Name] questioned, looking at the long row of pregnancy tests that mounted the farthest wall of the drugstore. There were so many brand names she recognized from television commercials, each one of them saying that they were the best of their kind. Each one of them freaked the living daylights out of her._

_"How should I know?!" Kasamatsu snapped back, just as inexperienced with this sort of shopping as her. "Are you sure you counted the days right? Maybe you're supposed to get it next week."_

_"I'm sure, Yukio," [Name] sighed as she thought back to her calendar. _

_She had been counting the days until his graduation again when she noticed that her next scheduled period had already came and went. Thinking nothing of it at first and chalking it all up to her increasing stress levels that usually came around the end of the school year, she continued on with her day. It wasn't until she had gone over to Kasamatsu's house again and things had gotten a little more heated than just friendly kisses that she remembered the worrying incident that happened the last time. Before things could go very far, [Name] had admitted to the Kaijou captain that she was already pretty late for her next cycle and the two had rushed over to the drugstore immediately._

_"I don't know what to do, Yukio," [Name] murmured in almost a whisper, her eyes prickling with an onslaught of emotion. "I can't be pregnant. I just can't be."_

_Sensing her distress, Kasamatsu quickly took one of her smaller hands in his and squeezed it in assurance. "Don't think that way. You're not, okay? You'll be fine."_

_"What if I am, though?"_

_Ignoring her question, Kasamatsu allowed his free hand to grab a random box off the shelf. He handed it to her a bit roughly, causing her to nearly drop the product. Her eyes looked down at the box in her hands, blurring slightly from emotion as she tried desperately to read how much it would cost._

_"That's going to prove that you're okay," Kasamatsu grunted as he pushed her gently in the direction of the cashier. Thinking for a split second, he turned back towards the shelf and grabbed another box. "Better grab two, just in case…"_

_This time Kasamatsu paid for the entire purchase, despite [Name]'s protests._

* * *

"[Name]? It's been five minutes. A-Are you okay?"

Kasamatsu had knocked on the bathroom door a couple times, his ear tilted towards it just in case the young female was making noises too quiet to hear. When neither a sound of confirmation or protest came, he reached for the handle and turned it a bit, allowing the door to swing open to its full width. There, standing at the edge of the counter with one hand covering her mouth and the other holding the soiled equipment was his girlfriend. She had let off an almost inaudible gasp as her eyes read over what the test said and Kasamatsu started to feel panicked when the silence continued for a while longer. His heart nearly stopped when he saw a few tears escape from her eyes, falling towards the ground below. Instantly, he was at her side, reading the test results for himself.

There, displayed clearly on the test, was a single blue line. [Name] was not pregnant.

**{EXTRA}**

Four days later and [Name] found herself sitting on the bleachers near a public basketball court, watching as Kasamatsu played a friendly game with his friends. She had been paying attention for the first half of the game, cheering when appropriate and hopping around in excitement whenever Kasamatsu managed to get a three-pointer. After the first half, however, she found herself more suited to just sitting and watching, every so often shifting or fidgeting in her seat.

"What's wrong?" Kasamatsu asked once the game was done, sitting next to her as he wiped off his sweat with a towel and took large gulps of his water.

"We need to go to the drugstore. Now." [Name] was practically dragging him out of his seat once he finished his water, but he stood his ground easily, giving her a questioning stare. Knowing she couldn't get out of this situation without giving him a straight answer, she looked off to the side, an embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks. "I-I'm bleeding…"

"Oh… Oh!"


	14. First Drink

People were gathered together in small clumps, chatting about the current events going on around them. Familiar faces and strangers alike intermingled with each other, their plastic cups and paper plates in hand as they tried to balance them without letting anything spill. The backyard was full and Kasamatsu was sure they couldn't fit any more people even if they wanted to. He hoped the noise wasn't too much for his neighbors.

Having just finished a long conversation with one of his older relatives, Kasamatsu had taken their long pause for thought as his queue to escape. He hadn't seen his friends for quite a while and wondered if they were still lounging in the same spot on the backyard patio where he had seen them last. Making his way past a plethora of people, he felt numerous pats on his back and heard countless congratulations. Thanking each of them with a smile and a wave, he finally broke free from the crowd two minutes later.

"Yukio, here."

A plastic cup was shoved in his hands and before he could refuse it, the person who had handed it to him had left and disappeared into the crowd. Kasamatsu hadn't even seen who had given him the beverage. Shrugging it off, Kasamatsu placed the edge of the cup against his lips and took a small sip. He instantly regretted it as the liquid burned his throat going down and a grimace found its way to his face as he realized it was hard liquor. Having nowhere to set it down, he started walking again and quickly found his friends and former teammates.

"Kasamatsu," Moriyama greeted as he slung an arm around his fellow graduate's shoulder. Moriyama was grinning, looking around at the crowd set in the backyard. "You never told me you had such beautiful relatives and neighbors. Why would you keep all these ladies to yourself? You selfish man, you."

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes and shoved Moriyama off him with a grunt, setting his cup down on the small glass table his friends were gathered at. He greeted Kobori and Hayakawa, who were gathered around the table chatting—well, Kobori was chatting and Hayakawa was yelling. Clapping his hand on Kobori's shoulder, Kasamatsu congratulated another fellow graduate on a year well done. For a few minutes, the four of them talked about the previous year and their plans for the year to come. Hayakawa, being the only one of the four who was still in high school, took his time to speak as a chance for him to yell out his promises to Kasamatsu about not letting the new basketball team down. In turn, this caused Kasamatsu to yell at him to calm down as Hayakawa's words were once again running together into an incoherent mess. Moriyama and Kobori could only laugh at the interaction.

"Hey, where's [Name]?" Kasamatsu asked after all the excitement, noticing that his girlfriend was nowhere to be seen. He had left her with his teammates after he had been pulled away by relatives, but when he came back she was missing. "And that idiot, Kise?"

"[Name] wasn't feeling well, so Kise offered to bring her inside," Kobori explained. He pointed to a plastic cup left on the table, a faint stain of lip gloss on the edge. No doubt it was also full of hard liquor.

Kasamatsu sighed as he waved a simple goodbye to his friends, telling them that he wanted to check up on her and see if she was okay. He opened the cold sliding door that would lead him into his kitchen. Looking around the room, he was slightly annoyed to find it empty, yet already full of trash from the partygoers. He and his parents would have a lot of cleaning up to do by the end of the night. Making his way out of the kitchen, Kasamatsu walked down the hall in search for the two former first years. He felt his skin go cold as he heard a familiar giggle coming from the living room. He quickly made his way over, hoping he wouldn't regret it.

"A-Ah, Senpai! Help me!"

Kasamatsu felt his eye twitch and his blood began to boil as he watched [Name] snuggle into Kise, her arms wrapped around the blonde's shoulders and her face pressed firmly on his chest. Kise, on the other hand, had both arms up in the air as if he had been told to freeze by the cops. He had wide eyes and a nervous sweat was starting to break out on his skin as he watched Kasamatsu stalk over to the two of them. Kise's death was imminent.

"Yukio," [Name] sang, instantly releasing Kise in favor for her boyfriend upon seeing him. "You wouldn't believe how warm Kise-kun is! And his clothes are so soft too. Of course, you're very cuddly too." As she spoke, her words slurred ever so slightly and she wrapped her arms lazily around Kasamatsu's waist so she could better nuzzle his neck.

Fighting the creeping blush that threatened to overcome him, Kasamatsu fixed Kise with a glare and demanded an explanation.

"Ah, right, you see," Kise started, arms flailing around a bit as he tried his best to recount what had happened.

* * *

_Taking a large gulp from her drink, [Name] instantly regretted it as the harsh liquid burned her throat. She started coughing and Kobori had to pat her pack gently so she could breathe normally. Thanking him, she set the now half empty cup down on the glass table, wishing to never taste something so vile in her life ever again. The guys laughed at her and teased her about not being able to handle alcohol that well._

_"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick." [Name] patted a hand to her chest to calm the bile that threatened to bubble its way up her esophagus._

_"I'll take you to the bathroom, [Name]cchi," Kise volunteered, feeling bad for the girl._

_Taking [Name] to the bathroom had been an easy enough feat and Kise thought she would feel better soon after emptying out her stomach. Upon exiting the bathroom, however, [Name] only seemed to be more flushed than before, her cheeks going pink from warmth. Kise frowned, wondering what could be wrong with his friend. As he opened his mouth to ask, the shorter female suddenly grasped his arm and dragged him to the living room._

_"Kise-kun," she whined, pushing him onto the couch before sitting beside him. "The bathroom was really cold. Cuddle with me!"_

* * *

Sighing heavily at the end of Kise's story, Kasamatsu tried his best wriggle free from [Name]'s grasp and point a hand in the direction of the backyard, silently telling Kise to leave so he could continue dealing with [Name] himself. As Kise scrambled to leave before Kasamatsu could hit him, the older male allowed himself to be led to the living room couch. Sitting down with a grunt, he merely rolled his eyes as [Name] started to cuddle his side and shower his shoulder with light kisses. He wasn't shaking yet, but the pesky blush had started to darken on his face.

"You don't really have a high tolerance for alcohol, huh?" Kasamatsu deadpanned as he tried his best to avoid his girlfriend's loving advances. Doing so was more than difficult for him, however, because the simple movement of her breath on his skin caused pleasurable shivers to race down his spine.

[Name] ignored his question, choosing instead to crawl onto his lap when she noticed that her cuddles were being ignored. Kasamatsu couldn't help but sputter out protests and she placed a leg on either side of his lap, straddling him. He was glad that nobody else happened to be in the house, all of the partygoers distracted by the festivities going on outside. Placing his hand on her hips, Kasamatsu tried in vain to get her off of him. His body instantly stiffened as she brushed her hips against his groin, the blood that had been staining his cheeks red instantly going south.

"Yukio, let's do it," [Name] whispered in his ear before nipping at the lobe gently.

"I-Idiot, I have guests over." Kasamatsu knew his response was a weak one, his mind turning hazy as he focused more on her movements than he did his surroundings. "A-Ah, s-stop biting."

[Name] had moved from his ear to his jaw and then to his neck, trailing light kisses and love bites along the way. Ignoring his protests, she continued to nibble on the sensitive flesh of his neck, her hands preoccupying themselves as they slipped under his shirt. She flexed her fingers against the muscles of his abdomen, feeling him tense up a bit at her touch. She could barely hear him cursing as she scratched her nails against his skin lightly. Pulling back to look at his face with her half lidded eyes, [Name] noticed how he had closed his own steel blue eyes in favor for biting his lip and stifling his groans. She could feel his hands twitch against her hips and she swore she felt something stiff against her inner thigh. Slowly, teasingly, she reached for the button of his pants.

"Think of it as a graduation gift," [Name] whispered seductively, popping the button to his pants open. "You know you want to, Yukio-senpai."

Kasamatsu's breath hitched; for some reason hearing the honorific murmured by [Name] had turned him on and he wanted nothing more than to carry her to his room to do dirty things right now. "I-I w-want…"

"Senpai, are you and [Name]cchi okay?"

[Name] yelped as Kasamatsu quickly stood from his seat, effectively causing her to fall off his lap and to the floor. Hiding his red face from the blonde model, Kasamatsu quickly ran passed him towards the bathroom, all the while apologies were spilling from his lips. [Name], who had become a groaning mess on the floor, was rubbing at her sore backside. Kise made his way over to the tipsy girl, helping her up off the floor.

"[Name]cchi, what happened to Kasamatsu-senpai?"

[Name] groaned and weakly punched the blonde in his side, doing little to no damage. "Kise-kun, you're such a cock block…"

"Eh?!"

**{EXTRA}**

The next morning, after the mess from the party had been cleaned up, Kasamatsu thought he could finally start to relax and enjoy his vacation before his first year at college. He wasn't too surprised to find a new text from his girlfriend later that morning, closer to noon. She had left the party a little early with her parents, complaining about a headache and wanting to go to bed early, but she had obviously still slept in rather late. Quickly checking the message, Kasamatsu rolled his eyes at the words there.

'Never let me drink alcohol ever again. Ever. Ugh…'

Typing back an agreement, Kasamatsu could only hope her hangover caused her to forget all the sexual advances she had made and how he had easily succumbed to them.

Another vibration meant he had another new message. 'Though it was fun for a while, right Yukio-senpai? ;)'

Cue a fiery blush and heat making its way to unwanted places.


	15. First Goodbye

"Excuse me! Pardon me! I-I'm sorry!"

[Name] was in a hurry, running down the sidewalk as fast as she could in the direction of the train station. Her breath came out ragged as she tried in vain to get the oxygen she needed through her mouth and her legs had started to cramp a bit due to the sudden onslaught of exercise, but she knew she couldn't stop running. She had to make it in time.

Looking around her surroundings as she ran, she saw a street sign she recognized. She was only a few blocks away from the train station now. It would only take her fifteen minutes if she continued to run at the pace she was going at. Quickly pulling her cellphone from her work uniform's pocket, she nearly dropped it as she glanced at the time. She only had eighteen minutes to get there in time.

"Damn it," she cursed, picking up her pace by just a little bit as she continued to sprint towards the station. Her mind wandered back to the conversation she had with Kasamatsu last night, distracting her from the screaming ache in her leg muscles.

* * *

_"So, my coworker wants me to cover her shift tomorrow," [Name] said solemnly, phone pressed up against her ear as she lay back in her bed._

_On the other end of the line, she could hear the shuffling of clothes and the crinkling of plastic. This continued for a moment before the sound of a zipper shutting replaced it and the other end of the line went silent. [Name] didn't know whether or not to repeat what she had said earlier, afraid that her boyfriend was angry. After a longer moment, she heard a heavy sigh escape his lips, the sound of his mattress shifting following soon after. She could only assume that he had sat down._

_"And you accepted."_

_It wasn't a question. It didn't have to be because Kasamatsu knew that [Name] was fiercely dedicated to her job. In a way, he was proud that she had found something to invest her time in, but he was also disappointed that it had been taking away what little time they had together. Not hearing an answer from the first year female, Kasamatsu continued speaking as he lay back on his bed, his eyes landing on his already packed suitcase._

_"I guess I'll just have to see you after work then."_

_"It won't be too long, I promise." [Name] tried desperately to get the disappointed tone out of his voice, but knew she was grasping at straws for hoping that much. "Her shift is usually a really short one. I'll be over there in no time."_

* * *

The shift had not been a short one at all. That day there seemed to have a plethora of customers filing in through the doors of the café and [Name] found herself swamped with work. Losing herself in the environment of a job, she had barely noticed the hours passing by. It wasn't until another coworker had pointed out the time on the clock that she realized she had been working far too long. If she didn't leave soon, she would miss him completely. Thankfully, her boss had been understanding of her situation and allowed her to clock out. She had left as soon as the words left his lips, not bothering to change out of her work uniform.

"There it is," [Name] gasped as she saw the entrance to the train station.

Quickly checking for any oncoming cars, she dashed across the street once the coast was clear and head straight for the open doors. The station was huge and there were maps of the interior placed all along the walls. Jogging up to one, [Name] quickly located the star that would symbolize her current location before searching for the right terminal. Her finger followed the path she should take and she made a mental note of all the turns she would be making. She only hoped she could remember them all in the right sequence as she pulled away from the map and continued to run. A clock on the far wall caught her eye as it ticked away. She had nine minutes.

*-Again with this B.S. failfiction refuses to put a line here. I am so sorry for the lack of professionalism.-*

_"It's fine if you can't make it," Kasamatsu stated over the phone. [Name] could practically hear the pout in his voice. "We hung out a lot today, so it doesn't really matter if you come by tomorrow."_

_[Name] frowned. She had upset him thoroughly and she wanted to make it up to him. "I can call them and say I can't come in tomorrow. It won't be too big a deal."_

_It was silent for another moment and [Name] wondered if he was pondering the idea. Finally, after about a minute, he gave off another long sigh._

_"Idiot, you can't do that. You'll only be going back on your word."_

_Silence consumed them once again as they both lay in their respective beds, cellphones pressed against their ears as they waited for the other to continue speaking. [Name] wished silently to herself that she was lying next to him at his house so she could run a comforting hand down his arm. She wanted to be close to him._

_"Hey, Yukio," [Name] said after a good three minutes of silence had passed by. She wanted to change the subject, refusing to dwell on depressing thoughts for long. "I've noticed something." Kasamatsu grunted in response, urging her to continue as he listened. "You've stopped stuttering a lot around me. We don't even have to be talking about basketball anymore. I'm really surprised."_

_Feeling embarrassed, Kasamatsu growled into the phone's receiver. "I-Idiot."_

_His weak insult, weakened further by the fact he had stumbled over the word, made [Name] laugh loudly. She couldn't help but feel like she wanted this moment to last forever, the two of them talking with each other until they could no longer speak. Then they would just bask in each other's presence, contently happy._

* * *

"[Name]cchi, you made it!"

[Name] looked ahead and saw a familiar blonde, surrounded by other familiar basketball players, waving at her spastically. Pushing herself to go a little bit faster for just a little bit longer, she started panting heavily as the small crowd of boys made a clearance for her. Stopping with her hands on her knees, she coughed once before looking up at the former captain of Kaijou's basketball team with an apologetic expression.

"You're late."

"Y-Yeah… Sorry."

The pair gave each other small smiles as they shared the inside joke with each other before [Name] lunged at him, pulling him into her embrace. Kasamatsu, in turn, wrapped his arms around her tightly as if letting her go would reveal that this entire experience had been one long dream. Burying his face into her neck, he inhaled the mixture of café sweets and sweat that lingered on her skin, not caring that his family and friends were watching the two of them interact with each other.

"I didn't think you'd make it," he mumbled into her skin, leaving a soft kiss at the corner of her jaw before pulling back. He kept her in his embrace, wanting to hold her for as long as he could.

"And miss seeing you off? No way."

Tears had started to form at the corner of her eyes as she gazed at him. She had been genuinely worried she wouldn't get to see him before he left, but the weight on her heart had been instantly lifted once she was in his arms. Noticing her tears, Kasamatsu rubbed his thumbs gently at the corner of her eyes, willing them away. He placed his forehead against her own, bending down a bit to accommodate for the height difference.

"I'll come back to visit," he repeated his promise from the last time she had cried, hoping it would calm her.

"I-I know," she mumbled back, her voice feeling thick from having to hold back tears. "A-And I'll visit, t-too. A-And then we have breaks together. And I-I'll only be in high school for t-two more years. I-It'll all go by in no time, r-right?"

Hearing the crack in her voice pained him and he knew instantly that this long distance relationship between them would be a hard one. It had been hard enough being with someone that went to a different high school in a different district, but it would be even harder now that he was moving towns in preparation for college. The distance, though only four hours away by train, had grown between them and he knew a larger struggle was ahead.

However, he was willing to take it head on.

Nodding his head awkwardly against hers, he closed his eyes and enjoyed her presence before the speakers in the station announced the arrival of his train. He would have to leave now or risk missing the only train heading in the right direction. Releasing her from his hold, Kasamatsu placed both his hands upon her face before leaning in for a gentle kiss. As their lips met for the last time in a while, Kasamatsu could feel [Name]'s tears start falling as they brushed up against his hands. Pulling away reluctantly, his steel blue eyes found hers.

"I love you."

[Name]'s hand went up to her mouth to cover up a sob that threatened to bubble up her throat. "I-I love you, t-too."

Stepping away from her, Kasamatsu bent to pick up his luggage before going to stand next to his parents. He watched as Kise and his other friends went to console the crying girl, Kise placing a friendly arm around her shoulder. When Kasamatsu's eyes met the blonde's, he gave his junior a nod in thanks.

"Don't worry, Senpai! I'll make sure to cheer [Name]cchi up when you can't!" Kise had his own tears in his eyes as he waved a sporadic goodbye. Kasamatsu had to keep himself from rolling his eyes and yelling at the model, knowing it would ruin the moment if he did.

"A-And I'll make s-sure to punch Kise-kun when y-you can't!" [Name] retaliated. Kise agreed with her before her words sunk in, instantly sounding offended once her implied message reached his mind. This time Kasamatsu couldn't help it. He rolled his eyes.

"I'll make sure to call when I get there."

Lifting his hand in a final goodbye, Kasamatsu turned towards his train and walked away.

**{EXTRA}**

An hour into his travel and both of his parents were sound asleep sitting across from him in their seats. Kasamatsu sighed, looking out the window as the scenery passed by rather quickly. A vibration in his pocket alerted him to an incoming message and he instantly plucked it from his pocket, wondering who the text could be from.

'Senpai, [Name]cchi kicked me when I tried to give her a hug! She's so mean and it's all your fault!'

Kasamatsu snorted, quickly typing out a response. A few seconds later and he received another text, this one from Kise's attacker.

'It's his fault, I swear. You're not a bad influence on me. You taught me how to defend myself.'

'[Name]cchi is lying!'

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes, a small smirk finding its way to his lips. It was as if he hadn't even left.

**End**


End file.
